The Financing for mitigation and adaptation to climate change and climate conscious investments were the focus of the debates that took place this Wednesday, 23rd of November, in Maputo, during the 7th edition of the Green Finance Conference, under the theme: “Contribution of the African private sector to the achievement of the Paris agreement on climate change”.
On the occasion, two issues were addressed with great emphasis: the risk that climate change represents for the portfolio of a financial institution, and the importance of stimulating new financial products and services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Mozambique.
Speaking at the opening session, the president of the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Agostinho Vuma, said it was important to reflect deeply on how to safeguard the balance between industrialisation and the planet’s sustainability, through the use of environmentally friendly materials, as a way to avoid the negative impact of climate change.
“CTA has promoted the use of renewable energy and environmentally friendly technologies in the production process in all sectors of economic activity, as a fundamental element to minimize the negative effect on the environment of business activity”
Mozambique is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and, according to Vuma, only the cyclones Idai and Kenneth that affected the country caused a very negative impact, as companies, especially SMEs, had cumulative losses and damages of about USD 1.6 billion.
So that similar situations do not occur, Agostinho Vuma said that “CTA has been promoting the use of renewable energy and environmentally friendly technologies in the production process in all sectors of economic activity, as a fundamental element to minimise the negative effect on the environment of business activity.
The president of the association also said that in countries like Mozambique, one of the main constraints faced by SMEs, besides the use of technology and other environmentally friendly means of production, is access to funding, which is still very scarce.
“The engagement of the private sector has also manifested itself through the provision of technology and services for water supply, sanitation and climate change resilient irrigation, as well as in the provision of solutions that reduce inefficiency and the promotion of recycling of industrial and domestic waste and the protection of ecosystems,” he stressed.
In his turn, the president of the African Guarantee Fund, Julles Ngankam, said that the institution he heads is available to finance sustainable projects in Mozambique, carried out by SMEs, as a way of mitigating the impact of natural phenomena.
“We are available to finance projects and we will sit down with the banks to make a survey of the existing limitations, related to the issue of risk and the lack of knowledge of this new financing for green technologies. We are also available to train the banks on how to deal with this type of financing for SMEs,” he concluded.
