Green Resources AS aims for REDD market

New OECD regulations make it difficult for 59 low-income countries to finance loans on market terms. Export to these countries will have to be aid financed through mixed credits or grants. The new rules have been decided upon without the involvement of the affected countries, most of them in Africa. One result is likely to be a renaissance for the mixed credit schemes in donor countries.

One of the most prominent consultants in the Norwegian aid market will no longer bid for contracts managed by local authorities in Tanzania due to widespread corruption. It closes down its local subsidiary Norconsult Tanzania Ltd. (NTZ), which has made irregular payments related to several projects, according to a new audit.

The forest carbon partnership agreed on by Norway and Tanzania aims to reward “mock" CDM projects that demonstrate avoided deforestation. Much of the NOK 500 million in aid will go through Norwegian players. One likely beneficiary is the Norwegian-owned Green Resources (formerly, Tree Farms).

The Danish branch of the Nordic Consulting Group (NCG) and the Danish consulting company Orbicon have decided to join together in what they describe as a “strategic alliance" in the aid consulting market.

The Foreign Ministry is considering closing down the untied mixed credit scheme in Norwegian aid, an idea originally proposed in a report by the consultant Econ Pöyry. Stakeholders strongly object.