According to a statement from African Standard Bank, it has bought 700,000 UN-backed carbon credits to fund a clean energy project to replace kerosene lamps with LED lamps in 31-million Tanzanian homes.

The project, owned by Illumination Tanzania, will save the nation around $200 million (about Sh280 billion). And it will reduce Tanzania’s greenhouse gas emissions by 800,000 tonnes.

According to Ms Aouane at Standard Bank’s London-based carbon trading division,“We’ve been working very hard during the past two years to bring the projects to fruition -- and the Tanzania LED light initiative is the first of several that will get off the ground in 2011.”

Aside from that, Standard Bank is also involved in a solar water heating project for low-cost housing in South Africa. Under a UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, companies invest in carbon-cutting projects in developing countries and in return receive offsets which can be used towards emissions targets or sold for profit.

Plus, the scheme is part of the development and execution of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) initiatives in Africa – which accounts for only three per cent of all CDM initiatives globally, noted the bank in the statement.