CASE STUDIES
Developing and Delivering a Series of Green Finance Masterclasses in Ghana

Client: Department for International Trade and British High Commission, Accra

THE CHALLENGE

The UK Department for International Trade Ghana wanted to develop and deliver a series of masterclasses, on key topics in green finance to Ghanaian private and public sector stakeholders, in the context of Ghana’s NDC, ahead of COP 26 and identify a set of recommendations to drive future private sector engagement with green finance in the country.

THE OUTCOME

CLT delivered a four-masterclass series, ‘Innovation in Green Finance’, covering key topics in green finance to over 140 attendees, exceeding attendance targets and with 95% of attendees reporting that the content was accessible. CLT produced a report containing 21 recommendations across 5 themes for the British High Commission to bring to the Government of Ghana.

CLT delivered an initial scoping study, an interactive four masterclass series, and a final report, which contained key recommendations based on findings from the scoping study and the masterclasses.

The scoping study was designed to clarify the knowledge gaps and barriers for accessing green finance in the Ghanaian domestic banking sector and based on these findings, develop the curriculum for the masterclass series.

The course curriculum was developed based on in country interviews with leading stakeholders from commercial banks, government, and the energy sector. These interviews covered the current level of understanding of green finance in Ghana, the barriers to participation in green finance, and the available support from the Government. This primary research was supplemented by in-depth desktop research to understand ongoing green finance initiatives in Ghana.

Based on these findings, CLT developed bespoke masterclasses to build the capacity of local financial institutions to facilitate access to green finance. The topics covered in the masterclass series were:

  1. Introduction and International Policy Drivers
  2. Project finance for greening the economy
  3. Commercial banking mechanisms for Green Finance
  4. Technology and climate change mitigation in Ghana

The masterclass series included four guest speakers, who were able to bring insight and a range of perspectives into particular areas of Green Finance, highlighting opportunities, business models, and new financial products for Green Finance projects.

The masterclasses were designed to be interactive and drove engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including commercial banks, government, academia, and non-governmental organisations.

Attendance exceeded the aims for the programme, with over 140 attendees interacting with the series, and staying consistent throughout the programme. To attract this audience, CLT reach out to over 25 banks, government departments, and academic institutions, to encourage a diverse range of leading stakeholders to engage.
As part of the masterclass series CLT gathered feedback from the participants. This feedback which was overwhelmingly positive, with over 95% of attendees reporting that the content was at an appropriate level. Feedback also fed into the final report, including what topics attendees felt could be covered in a further course and which areas would benefit from governmental support for green finance.

The final report combined the findings from the scoping interviews and desk research with the masterclass feedback to recommend key steps that could be investigated to fully scale up private sector investment and public sector utilisation of green finance in Ghana. These steps included:

  • Supporting Ghanaian Government policy to help stakeholders access the knowledge and capital required to exploit economically attractive green technologies. This would involve considering the funding needs of borrowers at all scales, from micro finance, up to large, utility scale projects.
  • Supporting commercial lenders to develop:
    • Experience and understanding of the currently underbanked green technology sector and emerging business models that are used by sustainability projects.
    • Access to international green finance fund, especially on-lent funds which would help to de-risk investments.
    • A more dynamic approach to management of commercial lender’s balance sheets would provide both greater experience of capital markets and provide flexibility which could enable the development of green lending programmes.
  • Engagement with international organisations which could provide support through targeted banking expertise and reducing risk for local stakeholders by providing risk capital or insurance and guarantees.

We partnered with CLT on a green finance masterclass series in Ghana. Their approach to delivery coupled with their breadth of knowledge and expertise was exceptional. They over-delivered on time and within budget.

– Beverly Koranteng , Investment Advisor, UK Department for International Trade, Accra