Green, Social, and Sustainable bonds to serve Africa’s sustainable investment needs
Green, Social, and Sustainable (GSS) bonds market remains a new frontier for Africa that will help the continent build a deeper, resilient and sustainable financing, according to policymakers, regulators, and peer sovereign issuers from across West Africa.
The experts were speaking at a virtual workshop on GSS Bond Market Development to build awareness and explore the potential issuance of GSS bonds in West Africa by sovereign government issuers or subnational entities.
The virtual workshop was co-organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Bank and the United Nations on 26 May in West Africa.
Hanan Morsy, ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary said, “As an innovative finance instrument, GSS bonds help fill the SDG financing gap. While sharing characteristics with traditional bonds, GSS bonds exclusively direct financing to projects with positive climate and environmental outcomes across energy, transportation, construction, agriculture and water sectors.”
USAID launches new partnership to employ over 200 deaf women in Addis Ababa
Ambassador Tracey Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires of the U. S. Embassy Addis Ababa, and USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director Sean Jones launched a new partnership with private social enterprise TEKI Paper Bags PLC, which is owned and managed by young, deaf Ethiopian women. Over three years, TEKI Paper Bags PLC will use the $550,000 U.S. Government grant to turn the fight against pollution and plastic bags into a national employment solution, dedicated to youth with disabilities.
At the launch event, Ambassador Jacobson, Director Sean Jones, and Kokeb Misrak, Director for Bilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Finance, celebrated the promising partnership, while listening to factory workers’ stories of the transformational power of their employment.
With USAID’s support, the organization will create at least 200 jobs for unemployed women with disabilities by producing and distributing recycled paper bags in collaboration with the Addis Ababa environmental protection commission, the city administration, and the private sector. The USAID activity will also improve awareness, skills, and attitudes across Ethiopia related to disability rights and inclusion.
African Development Bank reports strong financial health, despite Covid-19 crisis
The African Development Bank Group is progressing with financial reforms that have helped it become stronger, more resilient, and better equipped in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the institution’s Senior Vice President Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala said on Thursday.
Addressing the Bank Group’s shareholders, Executive Directors, and partner agencies at the organization’s 2022 Annual Meetings in Accra, Tshabalala said the institution strengthened its long-term financial sustainability framework over the last three years, ensuring that it built more resilience against future shocks.
“We updated our financial and risk policy; we undertook a review of our cost structure and are currently developing the Bank’s new cost containment framework to optimize the resources available for fulfilling our mandate,” Tshabalala told the audience, which included the Bank Group’s President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, and senior management.
