Back to Events
September 8, 2025

Scaling Private Finance for Adaptation and Resilience in Africa

RSVP

Overview

This session speaks directly to ACS 2025’s Adaptation and Resilience theme and builds bridges across sectors: gender, climate and finance. It challenges participants to think beyond traditional policy discourse, focusing instead on financing, implementation, and inclusive design. It also aims to contribute meaningfully to Day-3 discussions on climate finance, through a lens that ensures equity and inclusion in Africa’s climate action agenda.

This session is not just an event but an entry point to deepen Africa’s leadership in inclusive, gender-responsive climate finance.  It complements FSD Africa’s agenda of building market systems that deliver for those most affected by climate shocks, especially women and youth. It will spotlight practical approaches to delivering on NDCs through inclusive financial systems that work for women, youth and climate vulnerable populations.

Read full concept note

Meet the Speakers
H.E Dr William Samoei Ruto

President of the Republic of Kenya

Baroness Chapman

Minister for Development, UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)

Mark Napier

CEO, FSD Africa

Philippe Valahu

CEO, Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG)

Victoria Miles

Founding Partner, ImpactA

Emeka Akwiwu

Group Executive Director, Continental Re

Rachel Moré-Oshodi

CEO, ARM Harith

Rosalind Gichuru

Group Director Marketing & Communications, Kenyan Commercial Bank (KCB)

Clarisa De Franco

Senior Advisor, Allied Climate Partners (ACP)

Leslie Maasdorp

CEO, British International Investment (BII)

Saif Malik

CEO, UK and Head, Client Coverage, UK, Standard Chartered (SC)

Hannah Gore-Randall

Managing Director of Alternative Finance, Legal & General (L&G)

Chinua Azubike

Managing Director and CEO, InfraCredit

Chris Olobo

Managing Director and CEO, Dhamana

Mike Hugman

Global Director, Climate, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)

Jess Ayers

CEO, Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF)

Alexia Latortue

Special Advisor, Trade and Development Bank (TDB)

Objectives

The primary objective of this event is to set an ambition for far greater private capital – both domestic and international – to be intentionally devoted to projects, instruments and vehicles that promote African climate adaptation and resilience. Audience members will here from senior executives currently setting ambitions within their own organisations, and who are catalytic in their thinking. We suggest five areas of exploration (aligned with the above) to raise with panellists that have the sub-objectives of:

  • Crystalising the most important challenges the development finance community faces in supporting impact-focused projects (that deliver both climate resilience outcomes and risk-adjusted economic returns) at scale.
  • Establishing a common ambition around ‘adaptation & resilience financing’, including by defining the roles of different ‘types’ of institutions from across the continuum of capital providers (e.g. philanthropic, concessional, commercial, insurance, guarantors etc.) as needed.
  • Providing a clear call to action for interested participants to engage with this group in the lead up to, and beyond COP30.