TDB PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO CYCLONES IDAI AND KENNETH VICTIMS IN MOZAMBIQUE
Maputo, Mozambique, 17 September 2019 – The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is extending USD 100,000 in grant funding to assist the victims of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique.
A ceremony to mark the occasion was held on Friday the 13th of September at INGC’s offices in Maputo where the grant was presented by Dr. Mabouba Diagne, TDB Coverage Executive, Franco-Lusophone Africa.
“Food relief items were identified as some of the most pressing needs to be catered to”, commented Isabel Sumar, TDB’s Non-executive Director from the Ministry of Finance of Mozambique. These will be supplied by Merec Industries and Phoenix Mozambique, TDB’s partners on the ground, with last-mile logistics and the distribution support of the National Disasters Management Institute (INGC).
The most recent flooding in Southern Africa caused by Cyclone Idai and then Cyclone Kenneth has shaken the livelihoods of more than two million people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and killed over 1,000 people since the rains began in early March 2019.
As the wheels of global expansion and growth continue to be in motion, crafting effective climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies are becoming today humanity’s most critical challenge.
The Paris Climate Agreement calls on governments and other stakeholders – cities, subnational authorities, civil society, the private sector, development finance institutions (DFIs) – alike to scale-up their efforts to combat climate change. In Africa, up to 65% of the African population is impacted by climate change, while only being responsible for 4% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. As such, concerted efforts are needed to minimize the impact on Africa’s ecosystems and to turn the challenge of the century into economic opportunities.
The International Development Finance Club (IDFC)’s 24 members – including TDB – “are aligned with and work together to implement the Paris Climate Agreement through cooperation on climate finance, mapping of IDFC’s green finance and the outreach, tracking progress and influence on the integration of climate change considerations by the financial community at large.”
Indeed, “DFIs such as TDB have a key role to play in the fight against climate change” says TDB President and Chief Executive Admassu Tadesse, “first through their transactions – in line with their mandate, and also when extraordinary events such as Cyclones Idai and Kenneth hit. TDB is embracing its responsibility on both levels. With half of the Bank’s loan portfolio contributing to SDGs and almost 70% of its energy portfolio in renewables, TDB is also contributing to the relief efforts not only Mozambique, but also Malawi and Zimbabwe, as well as in Kenya and Ethiopia in connection to other social and environmental disasters.”
