The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have launched a US$690 million facility to help African governments finance climate-resilient infrastructure, strengthen food and water systems and expand renewable energy investments.
The Africa Sovereign Climate Facility will combine concessional and commercial financing with technical support to help governments identify climate priorities, prepare bankable projects and mobilise public and private investment.
The initiative seeks to address a persistent challenge in Africa’s climate response faced by the gap between national climate commitments and the availability of finance and investment-ready projects needed to implement them.
Its first phase will cover Angola, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, with investments targeting renewable energy, food systems, water and sanitation, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
According to the Green Climate Fund’s project information, the programme includes approximately US$275 million in GCF financing and US$400 million in co-financing.
Over its lifetime, the facility is expected to help 4.5 million people strengthen their resilience to climate impacts and avoid approximately 3.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Beyond financing individual projects, the programme is designed to strengthen governments’ capacity to translate climate plans into viable investments that can attract different sources of capital. This is particularly relevant for African countries facing increasingly unpredictable rainfall, water insecurity, declining agricultural productivity and growing exposure of infrastructure to extreme weather events.
For East Africa, where climate-related disruptions increasingly threaten agricultural livelihoods, water supplies and infrastructure, the facility highlights the importance of linking climate adaptation planning with investment preparation and financing.
The experience of the Africa Sovereign Climate Facility could offer lessons for other countries seeking to close the gap between climate policy and implementation, particularly in mobilising blended finance for infrastructure, agriculture, energy and water projects.
