Dr John Kofi Mensah, MD, ADB
MANAGING
DIRECTOR of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) Limited, Dr. John Kofi
Mensah, has said the bank is undergoing the necessary accreditation to be the
first indigenous bank to benefit from a US$500 million fund from the Green
Climate Fund (GCF) for developing countries.
The GCF has earmarked the amount to be disbursed within the next
four years to developing countries to
support low-emissions and climate-resilient development in developing
countries.
“With assistance from the National Designated Authority under the
Ministry of Finance, we are fast tracking the process of being accredited and also get the approval from the
GCF as a delivery partner to access the funds,” he said.
Dr.
Kofi Mensah was part of a Ghanaian delegation at the private sector facility of
the GCF 24th board meeting held in Inchon, South Korea.
“By
accessing the grant from GCF which will come at a lower interest rate, the bank
will be well positioned to finance agricultural related and climate smart programmes
that will contribute towards making our environment better and safer,” he said.
The
meeting afforded them the opportunity to make a presentation to the GCF board
on ADB’s financial performance over the years, compliance with regulatory standards,
staff capacity, the vision and the five year strategic plan being implemented.
He
also touched on some climate friendly projects undertaken by the bank including
the five years Rubber Outgrower Plantation Project which saw the cultivation of over 30,000 hectares of land by 8,500
farmers.
The
Managing Director revealed that though there had been efforts in Ghana to
educate and draw people’s attention to climate change, the difficulty in
accessing concessionary funds was serving as a bottleneck for many institutions
to vigorously pursue the Green Climate agenda.
Dr.
Mensah was optimistic ADB would work hard to access the funds to help Ghana
contribute positively to the Green Climate Agenda.
He
revealed that through the Ministry of Transport, ADB was going to be the delivery
partner for the 400 eco-friendly buses to be purchased for the Accra City
Electric Bus project.
Deputy
Minister for Transport, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus Glover, in a meeting with the management
of Zyle Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, manufacturers of the Daewoo buses, said ADB was
chosen by government because of its good financial performance and also its
experience in financing the purchase of 150 buses for the Intercity STC Coaches
Limited and the Metro Mass Transit Limited.
