Climate finance innovation for Africa

The amount of climate finance in Africa falls dramatically short of what is needed to implement Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) in the region. CPI estimates Africa’s climate finance needs at an average of USD 250 billion annually from 2020-2030, which must be provided by private and international public investors (CPI 2022a). Meanwhile, total annual climate finance mobilized in Africa in 2020 was only USD 29.5 billion. Meeting Africa’s climate finance needs will require significantly higher levels of investment, especially from the private sector. Due to the high real and perceived risks associated with investing in the continent, the private sector has traditionally played a marginal role in the provision of climate finance in Africa, accounting for only 14% of total flows in 2019/2020. Given the scarcity of public finance – with governments’ budgets further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – the private sector must play a more prominent role in closing the climate finance gap in Africa.