African efforts to invest in clean energy and prepare for the devastating consequences of climate change have received a boost with six countries set to receive US$1.1 billion in new financing for climate action, the World Bank said on Thursday.

Mozambique, Niger and Zambia will each receive up to US$50-70 million in additional resources to help transform their economies through climate resilience.

Meanwhile, Morocco and South Africa will join Egypt in receiving very low-interest loans for US$150 million, US$500 million, and US$300 million respectively, to strengthen their investments in clean energy in support of national priorities for low carbon development.

The new financing for climate action was given the green light at a recent Trustee meetings of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in Washington, said the World Bank in the statement.

"The CIF support for Africa is coming at a critical time. Climate change has the potential to turn back the clock on hard won development gains across the continent," said Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank.

"CIF financing is teaching us how to work together with governments, civil society and the private sector to make truly transformational investments a reality. Each CIF dollar so far is leveraging an additional ten dollars in private and public investments," she said.

The Climate Investment Funds are a unique pair of financing instruments designed to test what can be achieved to initiate transformational change towards low-carbon and climate-resilient development through scaled-up financing channeled through the Multilateral Development Banks.

The two funds are the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), financing scaled up demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies for significant greenhouse gas reductions within country investment plans; and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), financing targeted programs in developing countries to pilot new climate or sectoral approaches with scaling-up potential.

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2009)