Ghana Explores Green Bonds for Climate-Resilient Projects

• The Ghanaian government, inspired by Zambia’s renewable energy funding, is considering green bonds to finance climate-resilient projects.

• Ghana is actively developing projects to produce and export carbon credits, with a Carbon Market office established to manage sales.

• Aiming for $50 million in carbon revenue by 2024, Ghana plans to reduce over 64 million tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030, supported by global partners.

The government of Ghana is considering issuing Green Bonds to fund large-scale climate-resilient projects, Collins Kabuga, Senior Officer at the Ministry of Finance hinted at the virtual 2023 investment fair organised by the Ministry today.

Taking a cue from Zambia’s Copperbelt Energy Corporation, which is currently raising $200 million through green bonds for a 200MW renewable energy project, he said Ghana is considering green bonds as viable instruments to finance similar initiatives.

“Ghana is also keenly interested in exploring green bonds to finance climate-resilient programmes as part of the financing options under the government’s Sustainable Financing Framework,” Kabuga said.

Under the framework, the Ministry of Finance is reviewing proposed green projects and programmes from various ministries, departments, and agencies, with green bonds among the sustainable financing instruments under evaluation.

Dr. Daniel Tutu Benefoh, Deputy Director at the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency, also speaking at the event, highlighted the government’s successes in leveraging the global carbon credit market to boost revenue.

“Ghana is actively investing in climate-resilient projects to produce and export carbon credits. Currently, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, and South Korea have expressed interest in purchasing carbon credits from Ghana. We have established a Carbon Market office to generate and price these credits for export,” Dr Benefoh said.

Dr. Benefoh mentioned ongoing auctions of carbon revenue ahead of the completion of 12 projects expected to generate carbon credits for export, with plans to develop a robust carbon credit market that could foster job creation on a large scale.

Ghana is targeting $50 million in carbon emissions revenue in 2024 and a reduction of over 64 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) by 2030. The country has accumulated substantial carbon credits from solar initiatives, energy efficiency programmes, and building efficiency projects.

Multilateral development partners such as the Climate Investment Fund, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the Africa Finance Corporation are also supporting Ghana in its climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

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