Finance Earth, FSD Africa and FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) have partnered to launch the Africa Nature Impact Fund (“Africa Nature”), a first-of-its-kind financing platform with a target of raising USD 100 million for early-stage nature and nature-based carbon projects. The announcement today at the Carbon Markets Africa Summit in Kigali marks a key milestone in the development of the platform which is seeking to reach first close in 2027 at USD 20 million with a cornerstone commitment from FSDAi of GBP 5 million (USD 6.6 million).
While more than 62% of Africa’s GDP is dependent on natural capital, investment in nature-based carbon and biodiversity projects remains far below what is needed, leaving many high-potential initiatives unable to access the capital, technical support and market connections required to reach scale.
It is against this background that Africa Nature has been developed by Finance Earth, in partnership with FSD Africa and FSDAi, to mobilise larger pools of capital into investable nature and nature-based carbon opportunities across Africa.
In doing so, Africa Nature aims to also transform landscapes and communities, with the aim of protecting or regenerating 4.5 million hectares of land, sequestering or avoiding over 100 million tonnes of CO₂e over project lifetimes, and improving the livelihoods of 1.4 million people, half of them women. The fund also targets the protection of more than 60 animal and plant species.
Africa Nature builds on the success of FSD Africa’s Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE), delivered with Finance Earth, which helps nature-based carbon projects move towards investment readiness and has so far assessed more than 300 projects and built a pipeline representing over 3.4 billion tonnes of CO₂e potential across 76.5 million hectares.
Drawing on project development experience gained through CAPE, Africa Nature is designed to offer funding tailored to the different stages of a project’s development, from project preparation to commercial piloting and implementation, in order to bridge projects from pre-revenue to sustainable, long-term, contracted revenue.
In a departure from the extractive structures that have characterised much of the carbon market to date, financing is designed to maximise community and ecological value retained by the project. Africa Nature will invest only in projects with meaningful benefit-sharing arrangements designed to direct a substantial share of gross carbon value to host communities, with a target of generating around USD 450 million for local communities.
Africa Nature is designed to build lasting local ownership and capability and is seeking to partner with African financial institutions to support long-term local stewardship and governance. Working with FSD Africa and partners, Africa Nature will embed carbon market readiness in local banks and investors, so that over time African nature assets are held and financed by African capital rather than exiting the continent.
Commenting on the launch, James Mansfield, Managing Director, Finance Earth, said:
“Africa holds a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity, yet nature–based projects across the continent face major challenges in accessing the patient, fairly structured capital they need to succeed. Africa Nature is designed to change this by financing projects equitably and building local investment and governance structures, so that African nature assets are financed by African financial institutions. This announcement marks a critical milestone in the delivery of this vision and the culmination of our partnership with FSD Africa to date.”
Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSD Africa Investments, said:
“Catalytic capital works hardest when it unlocks markets that would otherwise remain out of reach. By anchoring the Africa Nature Impact Fund with much needed catalytic capital, we aim to de-risk high-integrity nature projects and crowd in the institutional and local investment that African landscapes and communities urgently need. This is exactly the kind of pioneering, high-impact structure FSD Africa Investments exists to support.”
