INSTRUMENT ANALYSIS SEPTEMBER 2024 RESILIENT MUNICIPAL MARKET FUND (REMARK)

The Resilient Municipal Market Fund (ReMark) is a proposed blended finance facility designed to address the lack of investment in African urban food markets, which are critical to food security but vulnerable to climate risks. The instrument combines a revolving debt facility for capital expenditure loans (USD 0.5-10 million) and a technical assistance (TA) facility managed by ICLEI Africa to prepare markets for investment. The pilot phase targets six municipalities in East and Southern Africa with a total budget of approximately USD 35 million, including USD 30 million in debt and repayable grants and USD 5 million in TA grants. ReMark categorizes markets into three types (A, B, and C) based on financial maturity, proposing different pathways to bankability, including a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) structure for the most challenged markets. Planned retrofits include cold storage, off-grid solar PV, and improved drainage to reduce food waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

• ReMark is designed as a blended finance facility that provides a revolving debt facility for resiliency retrofits and a TA facility for project preparation. The debt facility issues CAPEX loans ranging from USD 0.5-10 million to highly and moderately functioning markets.
• The instrument classifies urban food markets into three types based on revenue and financial maturity: Type A (high-functioning, annual revenue  USD 10 million), Type B (moderately functioning, annual revenue  USD 500,000), and Type C (challenged, annual revenue < USD 500,000).
• For Type C markets that are ineligible for direct borrowing, ReMark proposes a public-private partnership (PPP) using a project financing special purpose vehicle (SPV) to ringfence cash flows from upgrades to service debt.
• The pilot phase aims for a total investment of approximately USD 35 million, structured as USD 9 million in senior debt, USD 12 million in subordinate debt, USD 9 million in repayable grants, and over USD 5 million in working capital and TA grants.
• Quantitative modeling for specific upgrades shows that cold storage can yield an investor internal rate of return (IRR) of 23.58%, while solar PV provides a more modest IRR of 4.38%.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2024). INSTRUMENT ANALYSIS SEPTEMBER 2024 RESILIENT MUNICIPAL MARKET FUND (REMARK). https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Resilient-Municipal-Market-Fund_Instrument-Analysis.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. INSTRUMENT ANALYSIS SEPTEMBER 2024 RESILIENT MUNICIPAL MARKET FUND (REMARK). 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Resilient-Municipal-Market-Fund_Instrument-Analysis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=INSTRUMENT ANALYSIS SEPTEMBER 2024 RESILIENT MUNICIPAL MARKET FUND (REMARK) |date=September 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Resilient-Municipal-Market-Fund_Instrument-Analysis.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2024instrument, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{INSTRUMENT ANALYSIS SEPTEMBER 2024 RESILIENT MUNICIPAL MARKET FUND (REMARK)}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Resilient-Municipal-Market-Fund_Instrument-Analysis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }