President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed former South African Reserve Bank (SARB) deputy governor Daniel Mminele to head a newly established Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, which will lead South Africa’s efforts to mobilise concessional climate finance for its just energy transition.

The appointment follows an $8.5-billion offer made at COP26 by France, Germany, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union, to support South Africa’s just transition to a low-carbon economy, with a specific focus on the electricity, electric vehicle and green hydrogen sectors.

The Presidency indicated on Tuesday that it expected Mminele to oversee a just transition that advanced the country’s interests, protected vulnerable workers and communities and contributed to investment, growth and sustainable job creation, while supporting the global fight against climate change.

The Political Declaration unveiled on November 2 indicated that the funding, which could take the form of both grants and concessional loans, could be mobilised over the coming three to five years to support the implementation of South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

South Africa made a progressive revision to its NDC ahead of COP26, with a new 2030 range of 420- to 350-million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2-eq), representing a marked improvement on its 2015 pledge of 614 Mt CO2-eq to 398 Mt CO2-eq.

The Presidency said the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team would, together with the Asset and Liability Division of the National Treasury, analyse the offer made with a view to advising Cabinet on its composition, affordability and alignment with the country’s regulatory environment.

It would also engage with partner countries, coordinate relevant government departments, development finance institutions and the private sector, while overseeing the development of financing mechanisms and facilities to enable the flow of international climate finance to support South African just-transition projects.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has indicated that the lion’s share of the finance should be directed the way of Eskom and the electricity sector and has indicated that the State-owned utility has several ‘shovel-ready projects’ across its generation, transmission and distribution businesses.

In a recent interview, De Ruyter told Engineering News that urgency was required to convert the offer into transactions, as several other countries were also keen to access the climate financing on offer for their own transitions.

During a briefing on Monday, De Ruyter said Mminele was well-suited to the position and that he looked forward to working with him to "expedite and implement" the climate-finance transactions.

Mminele, who has since January 2022 been an independent nonexecutive director and chair-designate at Alexander Forbes Group Holdings, served as CEO of Absa Group until April 30, 2021.

Prior to joining Absa in January 2020, he was a deputy governor of the SARB, where he served two five-year terms from 2009.

“During a career spanning nearly 20 years at the South African Reserve Bank, Mr Mminele represented the SARB and South Africa in many international fora on the African continent and beyond.

“His experience before the SARB included credit-risk analysis, corporate banking, and project and structured finance at private banking institutions in Germany, the UK and South Africa,” The Presidency said in a statement.

Mminele was also the recipient of the 2019 Life Time Achiever Award of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals.