By Omotayo Edubi
The Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) has published a National Plastic Financing Roadmap to fast track the recommendations of the National Action Roadmap launched in December 2021.
This strategic document aims to attract capital investments of $9.75 billion to fill the existing financing gap in the plastics value chain to enable Ghana to achieve a radical reduction in plastic pollution by 2040.
Speaking at the virtual launch event on Thursday, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, Mr. Solomon Asamoah, highlighted the excellent work of the financing task force, saying the launch marked a significant milestone in Ghana’s commitment to tackling the plastic pollution crisis. He further called for continued collaboration among stakeholders across the plastics value chain.
“The public and private sectors, civil society, and government need to work together to tackle plastic pollution. Working together is necessary to unlock sustainable financing for activities across the full plastics value chain that facilitate the transition to a circular plastics economy. We will only bring about drastic change by focusing on these solutions and driving their implementation.” Asamoah said.
The Strategic Advisor to the Ghana NPAP, Ms. Heather Troutman, said the financing roadmap aims to serve as a compass to the private, public, and civil society sectors as the country embarks on the real work of committing to action.
“The financing roadmap is the starting point for shaping a vibrant market economy for recycled plastics, facilitating economies of scale operations that have a tangible impact on plastic pollution levels of natural marine environments while simultaneously de-risking the investments needed to bring these industries alive.” She said.
With per capita consumption of plastics growing at 3.4% per annum and poor waste management, Ghana faces a significant plastics pollution crisis.
The Ghana NPAP National Action Roadmap estimates that between 2020 and 2040, operating costs of $5.39 billion for the realistic scenario and $6.42 billion (including expenditure on non-plastic waste) for the ambitious scenario are likely to be required to achieve the desired pollution reduction outcomes.
The Financing Roadmap is key to unlocking the required financing by creating enabling policy and financial instruments to scale up activities across the plastic value chain.
The financing roadmap outlines 12 recommendations categorised under three themes, thus the government interventions required to create financial incentives and enabling policies, financial institution collaborations necessary to develop sustainable financing instruments, and the sufficient scaling of upstream and downstream activities to make the sector investable.
In developing the Financing Roadmap, the NPAP convened key government ministries, local and international financial institutions, development partners, and various industry players across the plastics value chain to develop actionable recommendations to unlock financing in the plastics sector by leveraging insights and recommendations set out in the National Action Roadmap.