Africa Climate Summit calls for global investment reform

The inaugural Africa Climate Summit took place in Nairobi, Kenya this week and yielded promising investment pledges from wealthier countries to support Africa’s role in the global energy transition.

The event, organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and co-hosted by the Republic of Kenya and the African Union, aimed to address the increasing exposure to climate change and its associated costs, both globally and particularly in Africa. Also, the event focused on the need for global finance optimisation, to ensure Africa no longer pays the price for the actions of the largest emitting countries.

To this end, several investment pledges were made to advance Africa’s green development and calls were made for accountability to ensure previous investment pledges are kept.

Kenya’s president William Ruto, stated that a total of $23 billion had been pledged to green projects by various governments, investors, development banks and private entities.

The event focused on four key themes; climate action financing, green growth agenda for Africa, climate action and economic development and global capital optimisation.

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Key Summit announcements included:

1. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with Kenya, Denmark, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates founded a new partnership called the Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa (APRA). The partnership focuses on three key areas: mobilising finance, providing technical assistance and capacity building, and engaging the private sector.
2. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) launched a new report, Financing Clean Energy in Africa. For African countries to achieve universal energy access, develop their economies and meet their climate commitments, energy investment on the continent needs to increase rapidly. The new report lays out ways to bring down financing costs and boost access to capital to help make this happen.
3. The COP28 President-Designate, HE Dr Sultan Al Jaber, announced a UAE finance initiative that will provide US$4.5 billion to help unlock Africa's clean energy potential. The initiative brings together public, private, and development capital from UAE institutions, notably from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), Masdar, and AMEA Power. Africa50, which is an investment platform established by African governments and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), has also joined the UAE finance initiative and will act as a strategic partner to help identify initial projects and connect to local implementing entities. The initiative aims to develop 15GW of clean power by 2030.
4. The event concluded with the agreement of the Nairobi Declaration aimed at encouraging leaders to support global carbon taxes. The Declaration also calls on the world's biggest emitters to provide the $100 billion in annual climate finance to developing nations that was pledged 14 years ago. The Declaration ultimately looks to reform a global financial system that sees African nations pay more to borrow money and calls for Africa's mineral wealth to be processed on the continent.

COP28 President-designate, Dr Sultan Al Jaber remarked on the importance of the event, stating that all parties need to unite around a plan of action that is fully inclusive, and fast-tracks a just, responsible and well-managed energy transition.

On discussing how to fast-track low-carbon solutions for Africa’s growing population, Al Jaber added that the “key to making this happen is finance, but it must be made available, accessible and affordable.”