Action Recommendations

• International financial architecture

  International regulations and financial frameworks must better reflect African priorities. Financial institutions should support development-focused reforms like Basel III and climate finance, recognize Africa’s green investment potential, and reduce its unjustified risk premium.

• Blended finance

  Blended finance and guarantees hold great potential but need to be scaled up with clearer frameworks. Countries should develop standardized yet flexible approaches and work closely with international development institutions and partners to coordinate tools and lower transaction costs.

• Domestic resources

  African countries should make better use of their domestic savings and capital by expanding local bond markets, strengthening pension funds, and creating investment-friendly rules. Climate finance can build on this by using green bonds and sustainable investments to channel local funds toward climate action.

• Regional integration

  African countries should develop regional project pools and integrated capital markets to attract bigger investments and institutional investors while reducing the fragmentation of small national markets. This also involves building regional green bond markets and better coordinating climate finance.

• Project-risk assessment

  International partners and development banks should shift from evaluating country risk to focusing on project risk, offering patient capital and first-loss guarantees to encourage local investments in bankable projects. Climate projects should be assessed on their environmental and economic benefits rather than country-risk alone.

• Technology and innovation

  Countries and development partners should deploy digital solutions for project monitoring, impact measurement, and risk assessment to build trust and transparency in green finance flows while supporting local capacity building and knowledge transfer initiatives.

• Climate finance delivery

  African governments should establish minimum quotas ensuring that climate finance reaches local actors including SMEs, cooperatives, and municipalities, while strengthening intermediary institutions to bridge the gap between international finance and ground-level implementation.

• Genuine partnerships

  International cooperation on finance must evolve beyond traditional donor-recipient models to focus on partnerships that create value for all parties. This includes ensuring that climate finance partnerships respect African priorities and build local capacity.