WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) have designated Tanzania as the second country, after Madagascar, to benefit from the Enhanced Cooperation Framework for Scaled-Up Climate Action.
The initiative aims to address the country’s adverse impacts of climate change.
According to the statement released on Thursday, the IMF Executive Board approved an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) in June 2024, but also the active engagement of WBG in climate action efforts in Tanzania.
Both institutions emphasised their commitment to supporting Tanzania due to its high vulnerability to climate change, which presents significant risks to its macroeconomic stability, fiscal health and social development.
They stated that, through the framework, they aim to collaborate with other development partners to help Tanzania to overcome the risks and challenges associated with climate change.
“Through the Framework, the IMF and WBG, working closely with other development partners, will coordinate their efforts to support Tanzania’s ambitious policy reform agenda to address risks and challenges associated with climate change and enhance the resilience of the Tanzanian economy,” reads the statement.
The initiative will adopt an integrated, country-led approach to policy reforms and investments, both public and private, utilising complementary and well sequenced reform measures.
The authorities in Tanzania, along with the WBG and IMF, have identified several areas where synergies in capacity develoment and policy support will be most beneficial.
These areas include climate-resilient public financial management, energy, water and other reforms aimed at promoting sustainable development.
Other focus areas include disaster risk management, social protection and the supervision of climate related risks within the financial sector.
Under this framework, they noted that, Tanzania will work with the IMF and WBG to incorporate climate change as a central element in medium-term public investment planning and prioritization.
Furthermore, the IMF will support the introduction of regulations and reporting standards for climate resilient public investments, while the WBG will concentrate on sectors that enhance Tanzania’s resilience, such as energy, water, social protection and agriculture.
The two institutions have also highlighted to assist in improving Tanzania’s disaster risk management policies and implementation, which includes establishing a disaster risk financing framework and enhancing the social safety net to respond effectively to climate shocks.
Furthermore, they will support policies aimed at improving water resource management, while IMF backed reforms will facilitate better land use planning and management at the village level. Tanzania will also develop capabilities for supervising climate-related risks in the financial sector with the support of the IMF and WBG.
This framework is expected to catalyse both official technical and financial assistance as well as private sector financing. “The IMF and WBG are prepared to support a country-led platform to mobilise additional programmatic and project climate financing, potentially implementable in 2025,” the statement reads in part. — NNN-DAILYNEWS
