The African continent presents a huge opportunity for investors to advance the deployment of climate solutions. To capitalize on this opportunity and bridge the African climate finance gap, finance innovation must focus on deepening financial markets on the continent – both conventional (i.e., debt and equity markets) and non- conventional (i.e., carbon markets) – through direct investment and capacity building activities. To build clean, green African cities, we need new financing streams.
Meeting Africa’s climate finance needs will require significantly higher levels of investment, especially from the private sector. Pivotal to this role is Development finance institutions (DFIs) who have been working in close collaboration with programme enabler organisations. Mobilizing investment in African climate solutions at scale will also require going beyond traditional financing approaches. Careful planning for climate change at the local level is very important, to ensure energy access and to avoid maladaptive and carbon-intensive projects. However, if this planning is not connected to finance, it becomes immaterial.
Questions posed to the panel will include:
With the scarcity of public finance, how does the private sector play a more prominent role in closing the climate finance gap in Africa?
Can the panel share examples of some Innovative climate finance structures that have been deployed to improve capital efficiency?
Africa is said to possess a technical wind potential of almost 180,000 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, enough to satisfy the entire continent’s electricity demands 250 times over. How do we use wind (and sun) resources better?
Moderator: Martine Botha
Global ESG Financial Services Executive
Opening Remarks: Tom Griffin
Partner, Control Risks
