Zimbabwe has secured $45 million from the United Nations SDG-Fund for programmes on catalysing investments in Renewable Energy (RE) towards the acceleration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.
While the Government of Zimbabwe through the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) and local partners including Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG), Zimnat Asset Management and CABS are supporting the programme with a total of $35 million, the UN SDG-Fund is contributing $10 million to the 4-year programme.
It is expected to kick off in April 2022. It was jointly developed by UNESCO (Lead agency), UNWOMEN, UNDP and the Government of Zimbabwe.
The program aims to leverage private partnership to fund Renewable Energy-based projects for the achievement of the SDGs in Zimbabwe and will innovatively target Sustainable Development Goals 5, 7, 8, 9, 13 and 17, whilst harnessing the inter-related nature of these goals in order to achieve the rest of the SDGs.
The programme is also geared towards the attainment of a number of key national priorities of the Government of Zimbabwe as spelt out in the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF 2022-2026), by working towards national goals on economic development, energy access, climate action, women and youth empowerment, and capacity development in Renewable energy for productive uses.
The joint programme will therefore carry out a full-scale demonstration of the concept of the REF instruments driving an innovative model of Accelerated Local SDG Achievement, and economic empowerment of communities through the transformational impact of introducing RE technology.
The active involvement of the United Nations system and Old Mutual Investment Group will provide credibility and a ‘halo effect’ thereby offering a wider stage and audience for the Fund’s activities.
