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US$ 200 million EBRD Credit Line for Energy Saving Measures in Turkey launched
posted on: 2010-07-09
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GFA ENVEST together with its partners have been awarded the Technical Assistance project for the establishment of the “Private Sector Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (TurSEFF)”.
In line with priorities of the Turkish government, TurSEFF was designed as the first loan opportunity in Turkey that aims at investments on energy saving measures.
The facility will provide energy funding loans - distributed through local banks that are partners of the project - for Turkish individuals and companies, ranging between a few thousand dollars to $5 million. The loans will be offered for a wide palette of potential investments such as commercial energy efficiency investments, independent small-scale renewable energy investments, energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in construction and residence sectors. The loans aim at cutting down energy consumption, reducing the costs and carbon emissions.
The technical assistance will support the participating banks in developing financing instruments for energy efficiency projects, to help sub-borrowers design and implement such projects, as well as to develop innovative carbon based financing mechanisms and to increase the awareness about the benefits of sustainable energy investments.
Similar EBRD facilities with participation of GFA ENVEST and GFA Financial Systems Development Department are implemented in Kazakhstan and Russia.
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by: Jasper Lauert, GFA Envest
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GFA Delegation meets with Minister Dr. Philipp Rösler in Berlin
posted on: 2010-07-08
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For the fourth time GFA Consulting Group organized a study tour on behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Germany and Switzerland to learn about health financing mechanisms. The delegation was led by the Vice-Minister Dr. Nguyen Thi Xuyen. Dr Xuyen was accompanied by technical experts of several departments, the Ministry of Finance, the Peoples Committee of Gia Lai Province, and a representative of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam. The EU is significantly supporting the health sector development.
The delegation had fruitful discussions with senior staff of the finance controlling departments of two regional hospitals in Germany and Switzerland. Furthermore, the delegation met with experts of the World Health Organization in Geneva to discuss lessons learnt from health financing reforms. They met with SwissDRG, who is introducing the case-based financing in Switzerland. Without doubt the highlight of the study tour was the reception of the delegation by Minister Dr. Philipp Rösler at the Federal Ministry of Health in Berlin. Dr Rösler underlined his interest to strengthen the cooperation with the Ministry of Health in Vietnam.
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by: Christian Caspar, GFA Consulting Group
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Foundation of GFA Silvicultura SRL in Romania
posted on: 2010-05-28
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In May 2010, GFA founded a new subsidiary company, “GFA Silvicultura SRL” in Romania. GFA Silvicultura acts under the overall supervision of GFA’s Forest Investment Unit based at GFA headquarters in Hamburg. The new company will provide services related to forest investment and operational forest management for GFA clients and forest owners in Romania.
The portfolio of services of GFA Silvicultura comprises
- the identification and analysis of forest investment opportunities, incl. deal sourcing, due diligence, and forest appraisal,
- forest management planning and sustainable forest management, and
- timber and biomass related plantation development, market research and sales.
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by: Eckart von Reitzenstein and Nils von Schmidt, GFA Consulting Group
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Protection of Species at GFA Headquarters
posted on: 2010-05-25
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Against the backdrop of the “Save the sparrow – Give it a home” campaign of the German Wildlife Foundation (“Deutsche Wildtierstiftung”), GFA seeks to do its own small share for the protection of local species by installing the blue HSV sparrow house on the outside of the main GFA building. We hope that the birdhouse appeals to home sparrows enough to raise their offspring there. If not this year, then maybe next, in 2011!
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by: Heiko Weißleder, GFA Consulting Group
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Governance Research Project in South Africa
posted on: 2010-05-07
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GFA and South African consortium partners started the implementation of an EU-financed research project in January 2010. The project is worth 1.9 million Euro. It is part of the South African national program to expand and strengthen community-based participation in local government (CBP), and thereby enabling citizens to influence and monitor local government policy, resource allocation and service delivery. The South African Constitution and key legislation provide for a framework for participatory local democracy, in particular through ward committees. Ward committees were introduced as a provision for citizens to be heard at local government level in a structured and institutionalized way. The GFA-led consortium is responsible for conducting a comprehensive nationwide study on the functionality and effectiveness of the ward participatory system.
This will provide GFA’s client, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), with relevant data and information. Findings from the analysis of collected and compiled data will be translated into practice oriented reports and manuals for use by stakeholders at ward, municipal, and national levels. Moreover, the data on ward participation will contribute to a national ward database hosted at COGTA which monitors and evaluates performance in local governance. Hence, the research results generated by the GFA consortium will significantly assist the current policy debate in South Africa and will support intended improvements in local governance.
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by: Dorothee Dinkelaker and Anke Küsel, GFA Consulting Group
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GFA Awarded ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Certificate
posted on: 2010-05-03
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GFA Consulting Group has introduced a quality management system according to the ISO 9001:2008 standard which is understood as a basis for GFA’s work as a project management company in international development consultancy. The quality of its services has always been of highest importance to GFA.
Consequently, GFA started an internal quality management initiative in 2008, which allowed the company to
- optimize its organization and project management procedures,
- emphasize client satisfaction as a central quality criterion, and
- establish a consistent quality-related philosophy among all GFA employees.
The GFA efforts to safeguard and maintain high-level quality standards have recently been audited by the independent IQM-Institut. In late April 2010, the auditors confirmed and certified that GFA’s quality management system meets the ISO 9001:2008 standards [certificate].
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by: Heiko Weißleder, GFA Consulting Group
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KfW Credit Line for Municipal Infrastructure in Serbia – 30 Million Euro Disbursed
posted on: 2010-04-01
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GFA leads a Technical Assistance project which supports KfW Entwicklungsbank, the German Development Bank, to disburse a dedicated Credit Line of 60 Mio EURO for the financing of municipal infrastructure projects in Serbia. The credit line was launched in autumn 2008.
Despite the financial crisis which also affected the Serbian local governments, over 30 Mio EURO have been disbursed to 80+ projects in 30 Serbian Municipalities as of February 2010 with support of the Technical Assistance Team.
The Credit line is available for eligible projects in the areas of- Water and sewerage, waste water treatment,
- Solid waste management,
- Environmental protection and pollution control,
- Energy supply and energy efficiency,
- Transport infrastructure, public transport systems and communication,
- Infrastructure for economic development (e.g., industrial areas
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- Social services (housing, including energy efficiency and heating systems, health, education, community services).
The credit is disbursed via Serbian on-lending banks, following the standard procedures for municipal borrowing. Individual loans under this facility will be limited to a maximum of 1.2M Euros; the loans can be used for new investments or modernization, expansion or rehabilitation of existing facilities.
Disbursement of the credit line is facilitated by the Technical Assistance Project that offers support to municipalities in the preparation and implementation of their projects.
Further information on the project can be found at http://www.miclp-serbia.org/index.php.
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by: Ulrich Theuerkauf , GFA Consulting Group
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Ministry of Health Vietnam Extends Award to GFA Technical Advisor
posted on: 2010-03-04
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With great pleasure GFA would like to inform that on January 12th, 2010 our GFA colleague Mr. Joachim Gromotka, Chief Technical Advisor of “KfW Health Care - HIV/AIDS/STI prevention” project was awarded the campaign medal "For the Cause of People’s Health" by the Ministry of Health Vietnam. Vice Minister Trinh Quan Huan was presenting the award.
In Vietnam, GFA started project implementation in 1993 with the “Social Forestry Development Project”. Since then we have successfully provided Technical Assistance for more than 30 projects and assignments in various sectors, executed by MARD, MPI, MOC, MOH, Molisa and financed by ADB, EC, KFW, GTZ and other donors. Currently, GFA Vietnam is involved in 15 on-going projects nationwide. With more than 13 year experience in Viet Nam, GFA and our Hanoi Representative Office have gained a very good reputation and developed a broad network with Vietnamese colleagues, clients, and counterparts at all levels.
On this occasion, we'd like to thank all our clients and partners in the Ministries and Provinces, Governmental and related agencies, and to express our acknowledgement to all of the GFA staffs and colleagues who have supported and contributed to our success and achievements.
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by: Dinh The Dung , GFA Representative Office Hanoi
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“GFA Public GmbH” Established in Berlin
posted on: 2010-02-05
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GFA has further broadened its scope of services with its new subsidiary GFA Public, which took up its work on Dec 1, 2009. GFA Public is a management consultancy offering services to (German) public and non-profit institutions at municipal, state and federal level. The German public sector is undergoing drastic changes regarding both its functions and the division of labor between public and private actors. Whether within an institution or at a multi-stakeholder level – actors must continuously adapt to these challenges and search for optimal solutions. With our team of experienced public sector consultants we act both as facilitators and technical experts in these processes. As part of the GFA Group, we strive to pursue GFA’s mission of delivering added value to our clients and partners through services of the highest standard, technical excellence in our main sectors, and innovative approaches and products.
Based in Berlin, our core business areas are: labor market policy, vocational training, social policy, and civil society-related issues. Within these business areas, we offer both “classic” management consulting – such as organizational development, change management, capacity building, and strategic management – and research services. The latter include evaluation and monitoring of programs and projects as well as studies and analyses covering different sectors, policy fields and “instruments”. Our current customers include a state ministry and several municipalities and employment services throughout Germany.
Our address: Linienstrasse 160, 10115 Berlin-Mitte
For more information contact: Dr. Florian Niedlich, Managing Director GFA Public: florian.niedlich@gfa-public.de
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by: Klaus Altemeier, GFA Consulting Group
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GFA ENVEST Develops Methodology for Estimating Carbon Stock Changes from Local People Deforestation and Forest Degradation
posted on: 2010-01-12
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GFA ENVEST and Desarollo Rural Integral Sostenible (DRIS) developed on behalf of the German Ministry of Environment recommendations for the preservation of tropical forest areas based on the REDD approach. These recommendations aim for:
- the protection of the biodiversity,
- the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and for
- sustainable livelihood conditions for the local population.
Amongst other, GFA ENVEST developed a draft REDD+ methodology allowing for the modeling of forest degradation due to shifting cultivation.
The methodology ‘Estimation of carbon stock changes and greenhouse gas emissions from local people deforestation and forest degradation‘ was developed by a hands on learning approach for the Buffer Zone of the Manú National Park, Peru.
It is designed to develop to develop REDD baselines in a transparent, robust and simple manner. As such the draft methodology allows for developing a dynamic baseline based on reference areas. GFA ENVEST hopes that this tool supports the reduction of emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation.
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by: Martin Burian, GFA Envest
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