GCA and Agence française de développement sign memorandum of understanding to accelerate climate adaptation in Africa

The Agence française de développement (AFD) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) announced their collaboration during the Africa Adaptation Summit with global leaders hosted by GCA, together with the African Union, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Africa Adaptation Initiative and the Climate Vulnerable Forum.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by H.E. Macky Sall, President of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union, and by the French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships H.E. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou.

The MoU provides a framework for the two organizations to collaborate in accelerating, innovating and scaling up adaptation action. AFD and GCA will work together on the design and implementation of multiple adaptation projects in Africa. They have already started working on two groundbreaking initiatives: 

• a locally-led project mainstreaming climate resilience into economic development projects aimed at poor and climate-vulnerable communities in Rwanda
• a project involving remote sensing and spatial monitoring of the Great Green Wall Initiative, an Africa-led movement that seeks to restore degraded land over 8,000 km in the Sahel and transform millions of lives.

These projects fall under the umbrella of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), developed jointly by the African Development Bank and GCA to actualize the vision of the Africa Adaptation Initiative. This program will mobilize US$25 billion by 2025 for climate adaptation in food security, resilient infrastructure, adaptation jobs and climate finance. The AAAP’s Upstream Financing Facility, which has influenced more than $3 billion of downstream investments with Multilateral Development Banks in 19 countries across Africa, will support the preparation of adaptation activities of these projects.

The two organizations will also collaborate by sharing knowledge and disseminating research on climate risks and adaptation solutions, including the outreach of GCA’s annual flagship report, the State and Trends in Adaptation.

Through the MoU, AFD and GCA will work jointly on building capacity to increase finance flows for adaptation projects and programs and collaborate on advocating the importance of climate adaptation in the regions where AFD operates. 

Press contacts:

Mathilde LIMITO – limitom@afd.fr – +33 7 52 62 55 32

Alexandra GEE – alex.gee@gca.org - +44 7887 804594