Tamale, Dec. 24, GNA - African leaders are advocating for the establishment of a special fund to be called 93Africa Green Fund" (AGF) where all financial support from the developed south would be channeled to addres= s climate change issues on the continent.

The purpose of the AGF is to receive and manage resources allocated to Africa from all sources including the fast-track financing and long term pledges made under the Copenhagen Accord to finance projects and programs that would contribute to climate resilient and low carbon development in Africa.

The fund to be administered by the African Development Bank (AfDB) would enable Regional member countries and other approved entities to have direct and easier access to flexible instruments including grants, concessionary loans and risk mitigation instruments to support public and private sector investments in Africa.

Mr Anthony Nyong, Compliance and Safeguards Manager of the AfDB, announced this in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the just ended Sixteenth Conference of Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Canc=FAn, Mexico. He said the Bank held a side event at COP 16 to provide a platform for key stakeholders at the international level to discuss the AGF as an instrument to enable African countries to gain enhanced access to global resources for the purpose of tackling climate change challenges on the continent.

"The hosting and management of the AGF in Africa by AfDB will increa= se Africa's access to the commitments under the Copenhagen Accord. This increased access will enhance the continent's confidence to contribute to the climate change debate as part of the solution to a global climate chang= e deal", he said.

Mr Nyong noted that AfDB was committed to the development in Africa an= d that the design and implementation of the AGF will benefit from the experience that the Bank had acquired in hosting and administering similar special funds that address the needs and specifications of African countries. Mr Yaw Oppong-Kyekyeku, Head of Climate Change Negotiating Team of Ghana, told the GNA that for African countries to be able to solve climate change challenges, financial support would play a crucial role hence there was the need for such a fund to be instituted to facilitate disbursement of money.

"AGF is important because it will be the avenue through which all fu= nds to be used for technology transfer project, sustainable management fund, funding for undertaking National Communications Strategies, mitigation and adaptation, awareness creation would be channeled through to be disbursed t= o the individual countries," he said.

Asked about the level of progress of the fund, he said discussions between African leaders and the Bank about the fund were on-going saying "I am sure there will be a concrete decision soon and it will be a positive one". He noted that, Ghana had submitted a proposal to the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund to the adaptation council of UNFCCC research, adding: 93In the whole of Africa it was only Senegal that had been able to access the fund."