The African Development Bank Group’s Urban and Municipal Development Fund welcomes €10 million from the Nordic Development Fund to boost urban development in Africa | African Development Bank

In partnership with the African Development Bank, the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) has announced a significant increase in its financial support to African countries and fast-growing cities most affected by the impacts of climate change and poverty.

The last contribution of 10 million euros will go to the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF), a thematic multi-donor trust fund that helps African countries to stimulate climate-resilient, liveable and productive urbanization. The Fund is hosted by the African Development Bank.

Mike Salawou, Director of the Bank’s Infrastructure and Urban Development Department, thanked the Fund for its contribution: “The support from the governments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden through the NDF is precious. This additional budget will boost UMDF activities, enabling us to support better urban governance and planning and ensure our continent’s cities are a transformative force for achieving equitable and green growth across Africa.”

Africa is expected to experience the fastest urban growth in the world – about 3.2 percent per year. By 2050, about 1.5 billion people are expected to live in Africa’s cities, an additional urban population of 900 million people. African countries remain the most vulnerable to climate change, but are the least prepared to deal with its impacts. About 70% of African cities are highly vulnerable to climate shocks, such as the ongoing water crisis in Cape Town, rising sea levels in Bizerte, storm surges in Beira or floods in Lagos and Dakar.

After successfully setting up the African Cities Programme, the Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF) should now be able to scale up its valuable support to more cities across the African continent. The NDF Board approved the new €10 million contribution at a meeting on December 8 in Helsinki. With this second grant, NDF makes the largest contribution to the African Development Bank in the field of sustainable urban development to date. NDF expects its contribution to have a catalytic effect on scaling up the impact of UMDF in African cities.

“We are a proud anchor donor of UMDF and excited to be a part of scaling the program to cities across the continent. Finding solutions for climate adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa is at the top of our priority list. We are pleased to see a strong commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment in this initiative,” said Henrik Franklin, Director of Portfolio Origination and Management at NDF.

“The planning, governance and capacities of cities and municipalities need to be significantly strengthened. This means that systems are designed in such a way that cities themselves can plan, finance and implement investments in essential services and climate-resilient and low-carbon infrastructure. For this, the integrated approach to urban planning and governance promoted by the UMDF is key to supporting African cities and towns to become more climate resilient, viable and productive. This support is perhaps the most direct and effective way to unlock Africa’s development potential,” said Aage Jørgensen, program manager at the Nordic Development Fund and also chairman of the UMDF oversight committee.

About UMDF: Established in 2019, the UMDF is a trust fund established by the African Development Bank to work upstream with African municipalities, local and national authorities by consolidating investment action plans, accelerating project identification and preparation (pre-investment activities) and building capacity to offer. building and supervising programs. The Fund’s strategy is strongly anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. For example, the fund supports climate adaptation projects in Addis Ababa, green waste recycling projects in Tunis, electric public transport in Marrakesh and an e-mobility regulatory framework in Angola.

About NDF: The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) is the joint international financial institution of the five Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. NDF focuses on the relationship between climate change and development in low-income countries and countries in fragile situations. Since the introduction of the climate mandate in 2009, NDF has built a track record of adding value by financing climate mitigation and adaptation projects in close interaction with its extensive network of strategic partners.