COP30 officials group photo. PHOTO/UN.
By PATRICK MAYOYO
newsdesk@eyewitness.africa
As the world prepares for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is piloting several innovative financial instruments to help African countries address the escalating impacts of climate change.
The main objectives for COP30, which will be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025, include accelerating the global energy transition, ensuring a fair transition for the most vulnerable nations, and crucially, mobilising large-scale climate finance for developing economies.
Africa is at the frontline of climate change, with eight out of the ten countries most affected by climate-related disruptions. Droughts, cyclones, and floods are undermining agricultural production, driving food insecurity, spurring climate-induced migration, and placing immense pressure on vital sectors needed for the continent’s development.
Despite receiving less than three percent of global climate finance, Africa is losing between 7% and 15% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually due to climate change.
In response to this urgent crisis, the AfDB, as Africa’s leading development finance institution, is committed to supporting African countries in enhancing their climate resilience and supporting their transition to low-carbon development pathways.
Through various climate finance initiatives and instruments, the AfDB is helping African nations access direct, flexible resources to implement their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
African Development Bank Group President Dr. Sidi Ould Tah met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 5 November 2025, Belém, Brazil. PHOTO/AfDB.
As Belém, located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, prepares to host COP30 in 2025, the meeting will be pivotal for the future of the Paris Agreement, 10 years after the world pledged to limit global warming to below the critical threshold of 1.5°C.
Between 50,000 and 60,000 delegates, including heads of state, ministers, experts, financial actors, the private sector, civil society, and Indigenous communities, are expected in the Brazilian city to restore global climate momentum.
The key priorities for this COP will be accelerating the energy transition, ensuring a just transition for vulnerable nations, and mobilising climate finance for developing countries.
One of the most enduring climate finance mechanisms within the AfDB is the Climate Investment Fund (CIF). Established in 2008, the CIF has a budget of $12.5 billion and has funded 47 investment plans and approved 45 projects, committing over $1 billion in financing to the Bank.
For more than a decade, the African Development Bank Group’s financial instruments have been responding to the needs of an African population exposed to climate risks, even though the continent is only a minor contributor to global warming.PHOTO/AfDB.
By leveraging CIF resources, the AfDB has mobilised an additional $2.42 billion in co-financing. This funding has enabled low- and middle-income African countries to accelerate their climate adaptation efforts through projects in clean technology, access to clean energy, climate resilience, and sustainable forests.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the CIF has helped Dorcas Tshabu fulfil a childhood dream to restore the forests of her homeland.
Managing a farm 20 km from Mbuji-Mayi in central Congo, Dorcas has grown a lush 50-hectare forest with the support of the Integrated REDD+Project in the Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, and Kissangai basins (PIREDD-MBKIS), funded with €21.5 million from the AfDB as part of the Forest Investment Programme (FIP). The project has addressed key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation across the country’s three provinces.
Since 2011, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) has been central to the development of blended finance initiatives aimed at scaling up renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Africa. SEFA provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in these sectors.
It also offers technical assistance and concessional finance instruments to overcome market barriers, build a stronger project pipeline, and improve the risk-return profile of investments. SEFA focuses on three strategic priorities: green baseload production, green mini-grids, and energy efficiency.
One such project is the 32 MW Ilute solar project in Zambia. Supported by SEFA, the project was allocated $8 million in June 2025, as part of a $26.5 million total financing package.
A lush 50-hectare forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the Integrated REDD+ Project in the Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga and Kissangai Basins (PIREDD-MBKIS), financed by the African Development Bank through the Forest Investment Program (FIP). PHOTO/AfDB.
This initiative, led by an independent power producer in western Zambia, will contribute to regional energy integration through the Southern African power Pool (SAPP) under a market-based power purchase agreement with GreenCo Power Services Ltd.
Launched in 2014, the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) has strengthened community-led climate resilience in Africa. To date, 33 projects have received $40.64 million in funding.
In Djibouti, Assia Obakar Hassan, a mother from the village of Kalaf, exemplifies the transformative power of such projects.
Thanks to the AfDB-funded initiative, Assia has turned her land into a productive farm, enabling her to feed her family—a far cry from the challenges of farming in the past.
The AfDB has also funded projects under the African Circular Economy Fund (ACEF), the first fund dedicated exclusively to integrating the circular economy as a strategy for green and inclusive growth in Africa.
Created in 2022 with support from the Government of Finland and the Nordic Development Fund, ACEF’s impact can be seen in Rwanda, where young innovators like Tresor Gashonga and Rafiki Gatsinzi, co-founders of Incuti Foods, are providing local farmers with a stable market while reducing post-harvest losses.
In 2022, the African Development Fund launched the Climate Action Window to provide concessional financing to Africa’s most vulnerable countries for climate adaptation, mitigation, and technical support.
With initial funding of $429 million, the window aims to mobilise $4 billion by the end of 2025 and $13 billion in the long term, providing rapid access to climate finance.
Funding from the African Development Fund’s Climate Action Window will help build climate resilience in Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Djibouti and Madagascar. PHOTO/AfDB.
In 2024, the AfDB Board approved over $31 million through the Climate Action Window to strengthen climate resilience in Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Djibouti, and Madagascar.
This project will reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 720,000 tonnes, create 180,000 direct jobs (with a particular focus on women and youth), and train 90,000 farmers in climate-smart agricultural practices.
“These initiatives not only address climate change but empower communities to take control of their future,” said Anthony Nyong, Director of the Climate Change and Green Growth Department at the AfDB. “The Climate Action Window is more than just a financing mechanism; it is a lifeline for those most vulnerable to the harsh realities of climate change.”
Several other initiatives funded or co-funded by the AfDB are contributing to Africa’s climate action efforts. These include external climate funds like Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Bilateral and multi-donor climate change funds include; Africa Circular Economy Facility (ACEF), Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF), African Water Facility (AWF), Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), ClimDev Special Fund for Africa (ClimDev), Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA),Transitional Support Facility (TSF) and Urban and Municipal Development Fund (UMDF).
Other special climate change funding initiatives include; Adaptation Benefit mechanism (ABM), Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), Africa Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA), Africa Climate Risk Insurance Framework for Adaptation (ACRIFA), Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme (ADRiFi) and African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC)
Other special climate change funding initiatives are; African Green Banks Initiative (AGBI), Africa NDC Hub, Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), Desert Power Initiative, Sustainable Bond Program, Great Green Wall Initiative and Green Investment Program for Africa (GIPA).
