New Development Bank (NDB), an initiative by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, has approved $300 million loan for sustainable development projects in South Africa.

A loan of $300 million will be given to the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) without sovereign guarantee. The money will be used for greenhouse gas emission reduction and energy sector development project.

These projects will contribute towards the improvement of energy sector mix and increase in South Africa’s energy efficiency while reducing its dependence on coal.

Last year, the NDB provided a $76 million loan with a maturity period of 17 years to 100 MW Shanghai Lingang Distributed solar power project. This was the first project funded by NDB for which construction work has begun.

Many other development focused banks are actively financing green projects across the globe. For instance, the African Development Bank (AfDB) recently approved a $1.5-million grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) to support the Nigerian government’s implementation of Phase 1 of the Jigawa 1-GW Independent Power Producer (IPP) Solar Procurement Program.

Mercom previously reported that the World Bank approved $180 million in assistance to Kenya to strengthen the financial health of the Kenya Electricity Generation Company Limited (KenGen) and improve private sector financing in the energy sector of the East African country.

Recently, the Church Pension Fund (CPF) invested $17 million (~₹1.07 billion) to provide financing to organizations that promote green energy initiatives. CPF is a financial services organization that serves the Episcopal Church of the U.S. The funding will be used to provide loans to microfinance institutions, distribution companies, and manufacturers in the off-grid solar sector located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.