Last week Nedbank Namibia hosted an information sharing session for local businesses in need of financing specifically aimed at sustainable and green projects. At the event, participants heard firsthand how they could make use of the funding available to green their operations or start a climate-friendly business project.
Nedbank Namibia Head of Business Banking, Britt du Plessis, says the bank offers an innovative programme, specifically designed to aid local businesses to seize opportunities in greening the Namibian economy.
Nedbank Namibia clients can now finance renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture or sustainable tourism investment in Namibia projects, through the bank. Any business that will directly benefit from the implementation of green technology, seek to diversify their portfolios or build capacity for green financing can benefit from the offering.
Energy efficiency expert, Andrew Hoy, a successful business executive was the main speaker at the event. Hoy is a director at a company that provides energy-efficient solutions to the industrial sector and has operations in the United Kingdom, France and Poland. Hoy holds an MBA from the London School of Business and a civil engineering degree from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
During a time when climate change calls for urgent and increased action at all levels in society, reducing our carbon footprint has become a concern not only for national Governments and environmental lobbyists but stakeholders and businesses at every level of the value chain. The impacts of climate change transcend national and international borders and are felt the world over.
Although Namibia is not a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, with Africa only accounting for two to three per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrials sources, according to the World Research Institute, climate change does threaten sustainable development. This information was shared during the United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted towards the end of last year. It further indicated that carbon emissions in 2020 will be eight to twelve gigatonnes above the level required. Therefore, transitioning to renewable energy is one of the most powerful ways for a country to reduce the global and its ecological footprint. Greening business operations has thus become a business imperative.
Environmental integration presents significant economic development potential. Green growth provides many opportunities to companies through new markets, especially in the fields of energy management, sustainable natural resources management and environmental protection. However, in developing countries such as Namibia, financing this green growth is a major challenge.
Nedbank Namibia is a key local stakeholder working with SUNREF Namibia to promote the sustainability sector in Namibia. In partnership, there is a local commitment, backed with financing and capacity building to tackle these challenges
The SUNREF Namibia Technical Assistance facility provides local players from various industries such as fish processing, fishing, mineral processing, tourism and agriculture options for financing. Key results and solutions working with SUNREF Namibia include considerable reductions in operational costs through the implementation of innovative energy savings. SUNREF Namibia is funded by The Agency Francaise de Development (AFD) and delivers this technical assistance free of charge.
“A green credit line has been made available in partnership with Nedbank Namibia. This will provide versatile funding on the investment cost and tailor support to project developers in the entire life cycle of the project, from project identification and conception to selection of technologies and the calculation of financial and environmental benefits,” du Plessis said.