That USD 8.5 bn in climate finance for South Africa? It’s going to have to pay back more of it than it first thought: Around 80% of the USD 8.5 bn pledged by wealthy nations to help South Africa reduce its emissions will be made up of low-interest loans, rather than grants, Reuters quotes a South African official as saying.

Background: The US, EU, Britain, France and Germany last year committed to providing the money over three to five years to help the African nation upscale its solar and wind-generation capacity and reduce its heavy reliance on coal. But while South Africa had mainly asked for grants, international lenders are primarily offering loans — a sizable chunk of which may not be given due to the country’s preference for using local companies and workers. A proposed USD 1 bn facility from the European Investment Bank, for example, is up in the air because the bank doesn’t lend money to projects that favor local contractors.

OTHER STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD WORTH KNOWING ABOUT-

• The OPEC Fund for International Development provided USD 40 mn in debt and equity investments to the eastern and southern African Trade and Development Bank to support sustainable development across the continent, according to a statement.
• Electric rickshaws and mopeds are accelerating India’s renewable energy transition, the New York Times reports. Over 430k EVs were sold by Indian automakers from March 2021-March 2022 — over three times as many as the previous year — and all but 18k of these were two and three-wheeled vehicles.