AFD, EIF close SUNREF on a high note
The Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) officially closed the Sustainable Utilisation of Natural Resources and Energy Financing (SUNREF) facility in Windhoek last week.The facility, funded by the AFD has been operational for four years as a €45 million credit line disbursed in Namibia dollars to three local commercial banks, namely Bank Windhoek, First National Bank of Namibia and Nedbank Namibia.
Delivering the welcoming remarks was Executive: Business Strategy and Performance Management of the EIF Aina-Maria Iteta, who said that since inception, “the aim of the SUNREF Namibia facility was to facilitate access to affordable green technologies, thereby improving climate change resilience for Namibian companies, while guaranteeing the development of a low carbon environmental footprint and contributing to the reduction of the causes of climate change and other environmental disturbances in Namibia - it is the verdict of the EIF that this objective has been achieved”.
“We are very proud, as Team France, to have made that significant contribution (€45m) to green finance, climate resilience and an improved self-sufficiency in terms of energy, through the banking system and for the private sector. The SUNREF programme has been a cornerstone of the French development activities in Namibia. And today Proparco, AFD Group subsidiary for the private sector is present to continue the cooperation,” French ambassador to Namibia Sébastien Minot, said.
The facility has benefited 15 projects across various industries with funding but has grown a far greater amount by rendering technical assistance.
Some SUNREF highlights under the sustainable tourism industry include the Vingerklip Lodge in the Kunene region as a recipient of N$3.8 million for the installation of a solar power system. Under sustainable smart agriculture, Avagro in the Erongo region was financed to the tune of N$10 million; and under the sector of sustainable renewable energy, N$111 million went to the 5 MegaWatt solar plant in Rosh Pinah, in the//Kharas region.