Appolonia Adeyemi How to accelerate funding to Africa’s climate and food security space was the highlight of the Africa Climate Roundtable this week which was held in Johannesburg South Africa from May 7 to 8.
Participants at the programme were united on the premise that financial commitments made at climate conventions need to be honoured, and existing climate funds must be accessible and efficiently managed.
The focus, they noted should be on adaptation measures, attracting private sector capital, and leveraging domestic resources.
The Roundtable addressed key challenges facing Africa’s climate action and food security landscape, seeking to drive collaboration, innovation and the coordination of efforts between countries as well as financial institutions.
Africa Climate Roundtable’s convening partners included: Afreximbank; African Adaptation Initiative; African Capacity Building Foundation; African Risk Capacity; African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD); Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; Global Green Growth Institute; UN Habitat; and the United Nations World Food Programme.
A global audience of attendees included policymakers, industry leaders and researchers exploring innovative technologies and strategies aimed at mitigating climate change impacts and promoting sustainability.
Among key takeaways from the roundtable include: attracting more private sector capital to adaptation efforts by selling the opportunities, rather than positioning the issue as a social one.
“Developing risk-sharing models to attract private investment into climate change initiatives, particularly adaptation.
“The AGF guarantees for SME lending is one example. More need to be developed in collaboration with financial institutions and other stakeholders, or shared, where they exist.
Similarly, other take-away are the mobilisation of Development Finance Institutions to leverage their balance sheets and risk profile to provide more affordable and accessible finance.
“Domestic resource mobilisation efforts must be leveraged to boost climate funding at source. Resources include the capital assets of the African banking network, capital markets, diaspora funds, African Private Equity funds and pension funds.
On Climate Resources & Capacity Building, Africa has an abundance of climate resources, but lacks the capacity to access and absorb funds to manage them.
“Building human capital, enhancing data collection and raising awareness at government-level are key areas that need to be urgently addressed. Research and Development (R&D) must be linked to improving the models and efficiencies of current programmes.
“Organisations such as the African Capacity Building Foundation must be tapped.
On local context, the participants noted that climate finance should be demand-driven and take into account local knowledge and concerns.
Engaging with communities, tapping into African expertise, and maintaining this standpoint in engagements with international organisations are crucial to achieving this.
In addition, they posited that a more regional approach to climate strategies and project preparation is needed, along with more and better collaboration among stakeholders.
A more regional approach to Nationally Determined Contributions could be more effective in distributing resources, attracting investment and offsetting capacity issues.
According to them, leveraging technology is essential for improving early warning efforts and effective disaster management, as well as helping governments to make informed decisions and guide responses that mitigate social impacts.
On how to reach common African position, they noted that ahead of the November 2024 COP29 in Baku Azerbaijan, key asks by Africa need to be agreed upon, such as better collaboration, stronger representation in decision-making structures, and reforms to the decision-making process.
