Request for Expression of Interest
For the preparation of a detailed report on how the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Financing Facility can mobilize resources at scale from a wide range of public and private sources.
- Background
The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) are joining forces to use their complementary expertise, resources and networks to develop and implement the African Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) to galvanize climate resilient actions through a triple win approach to address COVID-19, climate change, and the economy.
The AAAP will contribute to closing Africa’s adaptation gap and support African countries to make a transformational shift in their development pathways by putting climate adaptation and resilience at the centre of their critical growth-oriented and inclusive policies, programs, and institutions. It will build a supply of adaptation projects by piloting, proving and scaling up successful initiatives fundamental to African nations’ economic development, and prosperity for women and men. It will take promising ideas and early-stage programs to a regional and continental scale by developing and scaling up science-based solutions. It will also help to build demand for adaptation and resilience projects by demonstrating to donor countries how they can contribute to the costs of developing countries’ adaptation needs. It will demonstrate how economically beneficial projects can be made financially attractive by paying project developers for adaptation benefits. It aims to achieve a balanced regional coverage to promote socio-economic development and poverty reduction in African countries through prioritized regional and continental initiatives implemented over the short, medium, and long term, setting the first targets for 2025.
The AAAP comprises the following four bold and transformative ideas:
- Climate Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security: will build climate-smart agriculture and resilient food systems across Africa through scaling up access to climate-smart digital technologies, associated data-driven agricultural and financial services to serve at least 30 million farmers in Africa and improve food security in 26 countries by 2025.
- African Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator: to close the infrastructure gap by mobilizing US$ 7 billion in public and private financing for climate-resilient infrastructure in key sectors such as water, transport, energy, and waste management. The aim is for 50% of infrastructure investments in Africa to be climate proofed.
- Youth Adapt – Empowering Youth for Entrepreneurship and Jobs in Climate Adaptation and Resilience: to unlock $ 3 billion in financing for young African entrepreneurs and innovators (50% women) through blended finance, de-risking tools, and mechanism. Support and mentorship will be provided to 10,000 youth-led MSMEs (50% women-led) in climate adaptation and resilience; 1 million youth will be equipped with the skills they need to innovate, create or secure high-quality jobs; and the employment and green entrepreneurship ecosystem for young people in Africa will be strengthened through policy and regulatory reform programs.
- Innovative Financial Initiatives for Africa: Innovative instruments that tap the green investment markets; unlocking access to existing finance; and mobilizing new private sector investment by leveraging public sector finance to facilitate an increase of more than $5bn by 2025 of high-impact Adaptation and Resilience investments. Innovative Finance Initiative (IFI) will be the enabling pillar to address these needs and support the financing for the other 3 pillars. The AfDB proposes to establish and capitalize the African Adaptation Acceleration Financing Facility (AAAF) to mobilize USD 12.5 billion to implement the AAAP. The African Development Bank therefore seeks to recruit a consulting firm to explore the feasibility and opportunity to mobilize this financing target from a wide-range of public and private sources of finance.
- Objectives of the consultancy
The GCA and the African Development Bank is keen to know the feasibility of mobilizing $12.5 billion to finance the AAAF. The consultant shall produce a report that addresses, inter alia, different sources of finance as well from African investors and national governments; different mechanisms for raising finance including both established approaches such as blended finance and Green Bonds and new initiatives including debt for climate swaps, results-based payment mechanisms for adaptation benefits, debt guarantees, green banks and local currency lending initiatives. The report should address historical provision of funding and projected availability of funds as well as modalities of accessing such finance.
- Request for expression of interest
The African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation invite Consulting Firms to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested Consultants must provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) as well as a short description of actions they would take for the activities listed above.
The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the African Development Bank’s Procurement Policy and Procedure for Corporate Consultants Recruitment. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consulting Firm does not imply any obligation on the part of the African Development Bank to include it in the shortlist.
The estimated duration of services is 4 months from 31 July 2021. The assignment will be performed from the Consultant’s offices. Travel to Abidjan for one or more meetings may be possible, COVID 19 restrictions permitting.
Interested Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: 08:00 to 17:00 hours GMT.
Expression of interest comprising a company profile (PDF Format) demonstrating experience in the subject area of the assignment must be received at the email addresses below no later than 30 June 2021 at 08:00 hours GMT and specifically mentioning “REOI: African Adaptation Acceleration Fund” in the subject line.
For the attention of Mr Gareth Phillips
African Development Bank
Climate Change and Green Growth Department
Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 BP 1387, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Tel: +225 20 20 26 42 53
E-mail: [email protected] with copy to [email protected] and [email protected]
The consultancy is a lumpsum contract based on agreed deliverables up to the level of available budget.