AfDB Partners Oxford University To Train 1000 Workers Across Africa

Posted by Eric Ojo African News, Business News, Latest Headlines, South Africa, Southern Africa Friday, November 11th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – African Development Bank (AfDB) has partnered with the University of Oxford to provide training on sustainable finance for up to 1,000 public and third sector workers from across Africa.

The University of Oxford’s Public and Third Sector Academy for Sustainable Finance (P3SA) is a global center of learning and capacity building. It focuses on how the public and third sectors can unleash the opportunities associated with sustainable finance.

Registered charities, social enterprises, cooperatives, research institutions and non-governmental organisations are examples of the third sector.

The nominees will be enrolled in P3SA’s ‘Introduction to Sustainable Finance’ course free of charge. The course provides government and third-sector staff with grounding in sustainable finance. It will equip them with the knowledge of key concepts, theories, and topics to successfully navigate this emerging field and identify and mobilize levers of change.

Launched in November 2021 with funding from the IKEA Foundation and the European Climate Foundation among others, the programme has trained over 1,000 influential civil servants, regulators, and representatives of civil society. Over 40 percent of participants are from developing countries.

Head of Capacity Building and Partnerships at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group and P3SA’s deputy director, Andrew McCarthy said they are delighted to partner with the AfDB.

“Together, we will equip Africa’s public and third sectors with the knowledge, networks, and skills required to shift the direction of tens of trillions of dollars of capital away from unsustainable activities to those aligned with the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals”, he said.

Similarly, the Faculty Chair of P3SA and the Lombard Odier Associate Professor of Sustainable Finance at the University of Oxford, Dr. Ben Caldecott said the public and third sectors urgently need to develop broader and more in-depth capabilities in finance generally and sustainable finance in particular.

“This is currently a major capability gap and a persistent structural weakness that needs to be addressed systematically over time. We are looking forward to scaling the work of the Academy alongside our partners. There is no time to lose”, he added.

While applauding the collaboration, the Officer in charge of Climate Change and Green Growth at AfDB, Dr. Al Hamndou Dorsouma, noted that accessing adequate climate finance to address the effects of climate change is a priority of the Bank.

“This capacity enhancement partnership between the Bank and the University of Oxford will strengthen institutional frameworks within Regional Member Countries to unblock the flow of sustainable finance”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Climate Change and Green Growth department, in collaboration with Oxford University, will select eligible beneficiaries for the programme.

The partnership will advance ongoing capacity-building activities within the African Financial Alliance on Climate Change, a platform established in 2018 by the African Development Bank to engage Africa’s financial sector with the goal of de-risking and directing capital flows toward low-carbon and climate-resilient investments on the continent.