World Bank to Invest over 5 Bln USD to Restore Degraded Landscapes in Africa

Addis Ababa January 12/2013 (ENA) The World Bank announced that it plans to invest over 5 billion USD over the the next five years to help restore degraded landscapes, improve agriculture productivity, and promote livelihoods across 11 African countries on a swathe of land stretching from Senegal to Djibouti.

The over 5 billion USD investment will support agriculture, biodiversity, community development, food security, landscape restoration, job creation, resilient infrastructure, rural mobility, and access to renewable energy across the countries of the Sahel, LakeChad and Horn of Africa, it was learned.

World Bank Group President, David Malpass announced the investment at the One Planet Summit, a high-level meeting co-hosted with France and the United Nations, that focused on addressing climate change and biodiversity loss.

He said the financial investment "will help improve livelihoods as countries recover from COVID-19 while also dealing with the impact of both biodiversity loss and climate change on their people and economies." 

African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat stressed the benefits of the financial investment, adding that “restoring natural ecosystems in the dry lands of Africa benefits both the people and the planet.”   

The World Bank Group is the biggest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries.

In December 2020, it announced an ambitious new target for 35% of its financing to have climate co-benefits, on average, over the next five years.