NDF broadens network in Africa
NDF and African Guarantee Fund sign Memorandum of Understanding for Green Finance
During the Annual General Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), NDF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) to collaborate on promoting lending to African SMEs involved in climate change mitigation and adaptation. AfDB Executive Director for the Nordic Countries and India, Heikki Tuunanen, witnessed the signing by NDF Managing Director Pasi Hellman and Country Program Manager Aage Jørgensen and AGF CEO Felix Bikpo.
AGF is a non-bank financial institution established and owned by the Governments of Denmark and Spain and the AfDB. It aims to catalyse lending to SMEs in Africa through the provision of partial finance guarantees and capacity development to financial institutions active in the SME lending space.
The MoU establishes a working framework to facilitate concrete cooperation on joint financing opportunities to increase the flow of lending to SMEs working in climate change adaptation and mitigation in countries eligible for support by both institutions. Opportunities to explore include joint financing and setup of a specialized green finance guarantee fund, provision of technical assistance and joint networking, advocacy and knowledge dissemination.