The Sustainable Utilization of Natural Resources and Energy Financing (SUNREF) disbursed N$589 million in Namibia before it closed last week having benefited 15 projects across various industries, The Brief has established.
Information gathered from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Tourism show that some of beneficiaries under the sustainable tourism industry programme included the Vingerklip Lodge in the Kunene Region which secured N$3.8 million for the installation of a solar power system, while Avagro in the Erongo Region was financed to the tune of N$10 million under sustainable smart agriculture.
In the sustainable renewable energy sector, N$111 million was availed for the 5 megawatt solar plant in Rosh Pinah, in the//Karas Region.
In addition, a grant of 1 million Euro was made available to the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF) to set up a Technical Assistance Facility that oversaw the interactions between project sponsors and banks.
“SUNREF was designed to help local businesses to seize opportunities in greening the Namibian economy. Furthermore, enhancing the capabilities of local consultancies by adopting a policy that bounded international institutions to work with local firms on all SUNREF technical assistance assignments – therefore, playing a key role when it comes to enhancing capacity building and knowledge transfer,” said Teofilus Nghitila, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Tourism Executive Director, during the closing ceremony of the facility.
The SUNREF facility was funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) through a 45 million Euros credit line to three local commercial banks namely Bank Windhoek , First National Bank of Namibia and Nedbank Namibia and was operational for a period of four years.
“We understand that the banking sector is highly regulated, highly risk-averse and rigid but my hopes from the start were that the SUNREF Programme will change this paradigm and that banks will see investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable tourism as viable and profitable undertakings. And my hopes have been met beyond measure,” he said.
Nghitila commended the EIF for its continued provision of funding for the country’s green initiatives, a position which he said is expected to increase further with the adoption of its investment plan.
“Financing remains a major challenge towards realizing a low-carbon development in Namibia. Amidst an overall environment of shrinking public investment, the EIF continues to mobilize resources for environmental protection and improved livelihoods of our people. Upon adoption, we envisage the ensuing EIF Investment Plan to change the landscape of investments into infrastructure across the areas of low carbon and resilient development, waste management and recycling and biodiversity conservation,” he said.
Aina-Maria Iteta, Executive – Business Strategy and Performance Management at the EIF, said SUNREF enabled the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia to initiate its objective of supporting sectors that defines low carbon and resilient investments, with a focus on identifying catalytic interventions, crowding-in finance from the private sector, building partnerships, scaling-up innovative financing mechanisms and improving the effectiveness of financial resources.
“Operational structures and best practices established within the EIF via the SUNREF Facility will serve the institution for an extended time in the foreseeable future,” she said.
Sébastien Minot, Ambassador of France to Namibia said, “We are very proud, as Team France, to have made that significant contribution to green finance, climate resilience and an improved self-sufficiency in terms of energy, through the banking system and for the private sector. The SUNREF programme has been a cornerstone of the French Development activities in Namibia in recent years. And today Proparco, AFD Group subsidiary for the private sector, is present and ready to pursue the cooperation.”
