SPECIAL FEATURE
Health: International private investment, 2021
• Investment in health
infrastructure, e.g. new hospitals
-25%
rapidly growing global market and a huge potential business opportunity, as OPEC Fund Assistant Director-General Financial Operations Tarek Sherlala says: “If we look into climate financing in 15 years and it becomes mainstream and profitable, the private sector will take it.” (see pages 14-15) The multilateral development banks can also deepen their impact by moving beyond debt financing. Private investors seek risk-sharing facilities, guarantees and blended finance. MDBs are key players in facilitating international trade in green technologies and services. The IMF, in a recent paper, also advocates the introduction of carbon pricing to ensure well-functioning markets and prices. Transforming its climate ambitions into reality the OPEC Fund launched a Climate Finance and Energy Innovation Hub together with the United Nations Capital Development Fund and SEforALL at COP27 (pictured right). It will be a global platform to provide support on the delivery of Sustainable Development Goal 7, “clean and affordable energy”, in developing countries. The goal is to leverage each US$1 of sovereign finance to attract US$4 of green and sustainable capital from public and private sector investors for projects. The OPEC Fund has earmarked US$100 million for concrete projects and a first clean cooking pilot is about to
be launched in Madagascar. When the Director-General visits Antananarivo the next time, he should indeed be able to wake up to the smell of coffee.
PHOTO: OPEC Fund/Julia Zacharenkova
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