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The shortlist for the highly coveted NDC Investment Awards, sponsored by the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB), was unveiled at UN Climate Week in New York, following the UN Secretary Generals Ambition Summit.

These first-of-their-kind global African climate investment awards, launched at COP27 in Egypt and showcased during the successful Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, are designed to raise ambition, globally recognize achievements across the main NDC project sectors, inspire and reward governments, developers, investors and development partners, driving private climate capital mobilization and improving the investment readiness of Africa’s NDC projects, which require over $3 trillion of investment by 2030.

This year’s awards see the addition of Presidential Investment Statesman of the Year Awards, and exciting new private capital mobilisation and multi-stakeholder categories, such as the Best Investable NDC Adaption Initiative of the Year, Best Bankable Donor NDC Initiative of the Year, Best Blended Investment NDC Initiative of the Year, Best Financeable NDC City Initiative of the Year, Best GreenTech NDC Initiative of the Year and the Best Youth NDC Investment Initiative of the Year.

The shortlist includes 160 projects public and private sector sponsored projects, representing approximately USD 40bn of NDC financing and investment opportunities, from 43 African countries, covering all 5 African sub regions.

The 2023 NDC Investment Awards high-level Adjudication panel consist of:

  • Dr. Hubert Danso, Chairman of Africa investor and the Chair of the NDC Awards Adjudication panel.
  • Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and UN SRSG for Sustainable Energy for All, Co-Chair of UN-Energy.
  • John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
  • Kandeh Yumkella, Former UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General and CEO.
  • Ziad-Alexandre Hayek, President of the World Association of PPP Units (WAPPP).

Commenting from New York at the shortlist announcement, Dr. Hubert Danso, Chairman of Africa investor (Ai) and the Chair of the NDC Investment Awards Adjudication panel, said,

“We are delighted during this critical leadership year of Africa’s COP27 Presidency, the successful Africa Climate Summit, the SDG review and the COP Global Stocktake, to host these ambitious 2023 NDC Investment Award candidates success stories, which reinforce Africa’s investment competitiveness and central role as the world’s green industrial investment destination. The opportunities that governments and investors have, to collaborate through institutional investor-public partnerships (IIPPs), and to co-create ambitious, at scale blended investments that optimally marry regional and global market demand with Africa’s industrial and just energy system transformation, transition and growth, will ensure the continent optimises its share of the $10trn pa and growing global green industrial economy, assisting accelerate investment in a just energy future for Africa and the world.”

The 2023 NDC Investment awards winners will be announced at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

See the below 2023 NDC Investment Awards shortlist nominees:

1. Best Waste NDC Initiative of the Year
No. Project Name             Country
1. The Power of Waste- Phoenix Edison Nigeria
2. Zero Organic Waste to Landfills Zimbabwe
3. Empowering waste pickers to create a sustainable waste management system; Ghana
4. Mega Gas Alternative Energy Enterprise Ltd Kenya
5. Women re- and up cycling plastic trash Nigeria
6. Clean-Seas Morocco Morocco
7. National Solid Waste Management Program Egypt
8. Employment promotion for women for the green transformation in Africa (WE4D) Kenya, Mozambique,

South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda

9. Sabi Recycling Nigeria
10. Sustainable Waste Management (Phasing Out Open Waste Burning) Continent Wide

 

2. Best Energy NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. 60 Mw Solar Plant in Salama District Malawi
2. Lekela Power Morocco
3. BOAD Climate Finance Facility to Scale Up Solar Investments in Francophone Countries West Africa
4. The Energy Transition Accelerator Scale green hydrogen infrastructure Kenya
5. Siwa Solar PV Plant Egypt
6. Renewable Energy Assets Kenya
7. Port Victoria Wind power project Seychelles
8. Morocco Solar Home Systems Morocco
9. Ile de Romainville Solar Park Seychelles
10. The Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) SCALE (Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions) initiative Africa/ Global

 

3. Best Transport NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name  Country
1. BasiGo Ltd Kenya
2. Ampersand e-Mobility Kenya
3. The New Bugesera International Airport Rwanda
4. Electric Light Rail Network Project Egypt
5. Jali E-Mobility Financing Rwanda
6. Clean Air Africa East Africa
7. Facilitating Zambia’s Transition to e-mobility Zambia
8. Implementation of One-Stop Joint Border Posts (JBPs) in Africa Kenya, Burkina Faso, Togo,  Cote D’Ivoire, and Mali
9. Mobility For Africa Mauritius
10. Seko E-WAKA project Kenya

 

4. Best Urban Development NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. The City of Nairobi Kenya
2. Chongwe Smart City Renewable Energy Project Zambia
3. Nexgen Sustainable City Egypt
4. Nyandugu Urban Wetland Eco-Tourism Park Rwanda
5. Africa Sustainable investment & Infrastructure Programme Madagascar
6. SA-One Million Tree Campaign South Africa
7. The Parks South Africa
8. N’Djamena Urban Resilience Project Chad
9. Algeria 5 cities from scratch Algeria
10. Green Buildings and Retrofits for Affordable Housing Project Rwanda

 

5. Best Forestry NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Imperative Global-Carbon Market Facility Malawi
2. Debt for nature Swap Instrument Gabon
3. Shire Valley Transformation Project (SVTP) Malawi
4. Building the Resilience of Local Communities in Zambia through the Introduction of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) into Priority Ecosystems; including Wetlands and Forests Zambia
5. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) into Priority Ecosystems, including Wetlands and Forests Malawi
6. Restoring Malawi’s Land to Harness Water Regreening Africa Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Somali
7. Tree Value Chain Development 2022-23 Reforestation Campaign Madagascar
8. Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI) Gabon
9. Sustainable charcoal production and cooking stoves in Central Liberia Liberia
10. Enabling People to Restore Land in the Central African Republic Central Africa Republic

 

6. Best Financeable NDC City Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Green City Kigali (GCK) Rwanda
2. Eko Atlantic City Nigeria
3. Kigali Innovation City (KIC) Rwanda
4. Seme City Benin
5. Konza Techno City Kenya
6. African Green Industrial Cities Initiative Across African Cities
7. African Water Cities Across African Cities
8. African Smart Cities Across African Cities
9. King City Ghana
10. Vision City Greening Phase 2 Rwanda

 

7. Best GreenTech NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Catalyst Fund- Early stage Tech startups Africa
2. Kawi Safi 2- Low-carbon technologies Africa
3. Farmer Lifeline Technologies Kenya
4. D-Olivette Enterprise Nigeria and Benin
5. Trees for the Future’s drone project (Tanzania Mali, Senegal, Kenya, and Uganda)
6. The Third Eye Project Kenya Kenya
7. DigiCow Kenya
8. PowerTrust Across Africa Across Africa
9. SunCulture Across Africa
10. Money4Glass South Africa

 

8. Best Agriculture NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. NNC-Agricultural residue to achieve health and climate benefits from cleaner cooking Nigeria

 

2. Farming and Solar powered irrigation (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast)
3. Akwaaba Feeds Ghana
4. Green Again Crop Diagnosis App Cameroon
5. Grain Storage Projects Africa South Africa and Tanzania
6. The SCARF Project Tanzania
7. Akatale on Cloud Uganda
8. African Agricultural Transformation Initiative (Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, Senegal)
9. Value4Her Across Africa
10. AFR100-Restoration of Degraded Land Across Africa

 

9. Best Education NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Food for Education (F4E) Kenya
2. Electric Mission South Africa
3. Mozambique Improvement of Skills Development Mozambique
4. General Education Quality Improvement Program for Equity (GEQIP-E) Ethiopia
5. Somalia Empowering Women through Education and Skills Project – “Rajo Kaaba” Somalia
6. Development Regional Teachers’ Initiative in Africa and for Africa Africa
7. Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Africa
8. Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Africa
9. Africa Hydromet Program Strengthening Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa Burkina Faso, Mali
10. Barka Fund Africa

 

10. Best Health NDC Initiative

No. Project Name             Country
1. Arch Holdings’ Clean Cooking Ghana

 

2. Global Health Corps (GHC) 2022 (Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, America)
3. The Friendship Bench Project Zimbabwe
4. The Healthy Learners Model Programme Zambia
5. Drop Access and Vaccibox Solar Powered Refrigeration Kenya
6. Strengthening disease surveillance systems, capacity of laboratories, and staff skills on public health emergency preparedness and coordination Burkina Faso

 

7. Cabo Verde – Strengthening National Health Security through One Health approach​ Cabo Verde
8. Health emergencies preparedness and response strengthening in Togo Togo
9. Yemen pandemic preparedness and response project (PPRP) Yemen
10. Zambia Multi-sectorial Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project (ZaMPPR) Zambia

 

11. Best Water NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. The Grand Inga Dam Project Democratic Republic of Congo
2. Climate Investor Two (CI2) Water, Sanitation, and Oceans Infrastructure Projects Across Africa/Global
3. Restoring the health of agro-ecological zones of the fragile rangeland and mountain landscapes through Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) Uganda
4. Orange-Senqu River Strategic Action Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia
5. Project Kasongo Lunda Democratic Republic of Congo
6. Project Digeluna Tijjo Ethiopia
7. Water For People Uganda
8. Project Ndumbi Seconary School Kenya
9. Tara Primary School Project Zambia
10. Katsina State Water Board’s Water Supply Services Nigeria

 

12. Best Tourism NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Sustainable Tourism Strategic Plan Development in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, Italy, and South Africa
2. Rhino Africa Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Namibia
3. African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) Across Africa
4. Egypt Mainstream Biodiversity Into Tourism Development Egypt
5. UNWTO Program Regional Commission for Africa Across Africa
6. Modderfontein Reserve South Africa
7. Wilderness Mombo Camp Botswana
8. Travel Local South Africa/Global
9. Green Safaris Zambia & Malawi
10. Tourism Recovery, Diversification and Resilience Project Gambia

 

13. Best Investable NDC Adaptation Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Building the Resilience of Local Communities in Zambia through the Introduction of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) into Priority Ecosystems, including Wetlands and Forests Zambia

 

2. The Africa Adaption Acceleration Program’s Food Security program Across Africa

 

3. Global Program on Locally Led Adaptation Across Africa
4. Africa Adaption Initiative Ethiopia/Across Africa
5. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) South Africa
6. The Adaption Fund Africa/Global
7. The Africa Adaption Acceleration Program Africa
8. The Great Green Wall Africa
9. Resilient Water Accelerator’ (Water Aid) Africa/Global
10. Climate Investor Two Africa/Asia/South America

 

14. Best Bankable Donor Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. SA-H2 Fund (Green Hydrogen Fund) South Africa
2. UNDP Resilience Hub Africa Africa
3. Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) for Senegal Senegal
4. Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) for South Africa South Africa
5. Accelerated Partnership For Renewables in Africa (APARA) Kenya, Denmark, Germany and UAE
6. The Middle East & North Africa Multi-Donor Trust Fund North Africa
7. WWF Bankable Nature Solutions The Commonwealth Climate Finance Africa/Global
8. Access Hub (Eswatini, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia)
9. Ethihad 7 Across Africa
10. EU-Africa Global Gateway Investment Package Across Africa

 

15. Best Blended Investment NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. Risk Sharing Backstop Facility (RSBF) Nigeria
2. The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) Across Africa
3. Otjikoto Biomass Power Project Namibia
4. Unlock 10 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy project Africa
5. Catalytic Finance Foundation Africa/Global
6. Philanthropy Lab Across Africa
7. Catalytic Capital Africa (2CAfrica) Commitment Objective 2023-2025 Across Africa
8. Nigerian Wholesale Impact Investment Fund (WIIF) Nigeria
9. GAIA’s Blended Finance Fund Across Africa
10. AgDevC Sub-saharan Africa Across Africa

 

16. Best Youth NDC Initiative of the Year

No. Project Name             Country
1. KALTANI Recycling and Waste Management Project Nigeria
2. YouthADAPT program Across Africa
3. Ivoire Myciculture Distribution (IMD) Cote d’Ivoire
4. Primary Education Equity in Learning Program Kenya
5. Piloting social protection and WASH interventions to keep adolescent girls in school in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
6. Girls Empowerment and Learning Project Angola
7. The Restoration of Eyecare Through Innovation and Awareness (RETINA) Nigeria
8. Uman4Uman Sierra Leone
9. Ethnodesign Global Kenya
10. Biha Eco Venture Uganda

 

ENDS**

Note to Editors

For more information on the Ai African NDC Investment Awards, visit: www.ndcinvestmentawards.com, or email: tmutasa@africainvestor.com

About The NDC Investment Awards Headline sponsor

The African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB) is an African Union-convened and supported African institutional investor-led, global climate investment platform, to catalyze private capital for Africa’s green transition. Visit www.afgiib.com for more information.

About Africa investor (Ai) Group

Africa investor (Ai) Group is an institutional investment holding platform that aligns its pools of capital from sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, family offices, and long-term investors with vetted infrastructure, private equity, and technology investment opportunities in Africa. Visit www.africainvestor.com

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