CIB Group Chairman Hisham Ezz Al-Arab is rooting for a new financing model to help the African continent move away from the effects of climate change.
- The bank noted that despite the continent’s low carbon emission of 5 per cent compared to what others emit across the globe, effects of global warming are widely felt in the continent through floods, drought, rising sea levels, leaving majority poorer.
- Speaking in Nairobi, Al-Arab noted that the continent needed equity financing as opposed to debt financing for impactful fight against the effects of bad weather.
- The chairman was speaking at a forum hosted by The Kenyan Wall Street on the role of financial institutions in mitigating climate risks.
- Speakers at the forum included Wayne Hennesy-Barret CEO and Founder of 4G Capital, Frank Mwiti, CEO of Nairobi Securities Exchange among others.
“Every time I talk with Financial institutions, they talk of giving us financing which is another word for loans which you have to pay back with interest; the continent needs an equity model to help adapt to the change,” he said.
“Knowing the size of the continent and amount of work that needs to be done to fight rising sea levels, drought and floods, our financial institutions need to be resourced with adequate capital to help Africa move to green energy, embrace water recycling and other mitigation measures against the effects of bad weather,” he added.
Al Arab says that the CIB Group has contributed as much as US$300 million to spur innovation in renewable energy and waste management in Egypt. Moreover, within its operations, CIB has taken up green solutions that would hopefully, activate a positive trend within the industry.
“We have to start with ourselves and not wait for the governments. The new CIB building is completely green, the first building in Egypt that is green. At the heart of our policies, we have changed many things including adding the sustainability committee to our board,” Al Arab said.
Leaders at the forum called for a fair play in the climate change debate to ensure that no institution profits at the expense of the majority in need. In the fight against the effects of climate change, Nairobi Securities Exchange CEO Frank Mwiti called on the continent to structure projects well to attract funding from the donor community.
“The key dilemma is not channelling the funds to African countries. The key dilemma is creating opportunities not leading to more droughts, more heating, because of the emerging climate risks so that we can start creating economic value for these actions,” said CIB Group CFO, Islam Zekry.
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