Mali NDA signs grant agreement during visit to GCF headquarters
NDA of the government of Mali visited the GCF headquarters today to sign its grant agreement under GCF’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme.
The National Designated Authority (NDA) of the government of Mali visited the Green Climate Fund headquarters in Songdo today to sign its grant agreement with the Fund under GCF’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme.
The signing ceremony was led by Ms. Hela Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of GCF, and attended by Mr. Aboubacar Diabate, Director General of the Agency for Environment and Sustainable Development in the Ministry of Environment and Sanitation, Mali’s NDA.
Mali will receive USD 300,000 in readiness funds from GCF, including a USD 48,000 grant that was disbursed in April to support preparatory activities such as a national climate workshop.
To ensure a coherent partnership between the Fund and Mali, the country’s government will use the grant to assemble a specialized GCF team within its Agency for Environment and Sustainable Development.
The team will include GCF specialists and national experts in diverse climate and development areas. Together they will identify Mali’s climate priorities and situate them within the Fund’s investment and result management frameworks. From there, an articulated project portfolio for GCF consideration can emerge.
Mali has set several national strategies to achieve a greening of its economy and society. It has also devised an investment plan to support these strategies. The country hopes to eventually infuse financing from GCF into this investment plan so that it can advance its paradigm-shifting strategies. Its readiness activities are the first step towards this goal.
“Mali has taken the lead in accessing readiness support from the Green Climate Fund and is an inspiration for other countries to do the same,” said Ms. Cheikhrouhou. “We look forward to seeing at least 15 more countries sign their grant agreements in the remaining weeks before COP 21,” she added.
The Fund will monitor Mali’s readiness initiatives and their outcomes throughout the period of the grant agreement, which will conclude in 2016.
To date, GCF has finalized readiness proposals with 16 countries for a total of USD 4.25 million. Countries include Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bolivia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Mali, Rwanda, Thailand, Togo, and Vanuatu.