The aim of this research is to assist the African Natural Resources Management and Investment
Centre (ANRC), an entity of the African Development Bank (AfDB), to meet its commitment to advise
regional member countries (RMCs) on important aspects of natural resource management and
to ensure nature fully supports Africa’s future economic development objectives. With support
from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), this ambitious, nature-positive development agenda
acknowledges the magnitude and importance of climate and nature for the future sustainability of
regional member countries and will transform the sustainable development narrative.
These goals must be balanced, however, with the reality of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic
and the impact of the current conflict in Ukraine on energy and food security. The majority of the
Bank’s regional member countries fall within the group of countries that have witnessed a weaker
recovery from the pandemic. In fact, the Bank has estimated that its constituents will require USD
484.6 billion in additional financing within the next three years in order to support their post-COVID
recovery1. These challenges are being further exacerbated by increasing climate vulnerabilities that
are growing very rapidly in the least developed countries, particularly across the African continent2.
As a result, any climate and nature issues must be situated in the context of the post-pandemic
recovery and the ability to meet other sustainable development goals.
Africa’s sustainability goals are additionally challenged by global power imbalances, dynamic
markets, climate change, and historical inequalities, but opportunities remain to advance these goals
despite such impediments. This report highlights opportunities to mobilize finance by leveraging a
growing global recognition of the importance of nature for our shared well-being. In order to meet
the joint challenges posed by the pandemic and by the climate and nature crisis, bold and creative
solutions are necessary, and therefore the collaboration between the AfDB, WWF and Potomac
Group for this project on debt-for-nature swaps in Africa is both timely and essential. As part of
this collaboration, this flagship report seeks to examine, analyse and explore ways to effectively
mobilize finance for African countries while still advancing climate and nature goals.
The report therefore provides detailed policy recommendations for sustainable financing options,
with a particular focus on debt-for-climate/nature swaps, transactions designed to exchange debt
“forgiveness” for conservation action. Additionally, this report seeks to inform the Bank’s new
Debt Action Plan, Sustainable Borrowing Policy and specific interventions on debt management
and sustainability in African countries, while reducing the risks to countries of debt distress and
crisis. The intention is to provide action-oriented advice that can lead to transactions which will
have lasting impact on debt sustainability, climate resilience, and biodiversity conservation for both
people and the planet.
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