African Leadership University’s School Of Wildlife Conservation (ALU’s SOWC), Dalberg, and FSD Africa Investments bring together their in-depth expertise in biodiversity conservation and restoration, finance, and impact investments to form a partnership that will help investors measure and track the impact of their biodiversity-related investments over time.
NAIROBI, KIGALI, DAR ES SALAAM – A pioneering initiative aimed to boost biodiversity investments by helping investors measure, rate, and track their impact on biodiversity conservation and restoration – the Biodiversity Investment Rating Agency (BIRA) – was launched today by the African Leadership University’s School of Wildlife Conservation, Dalberg, and FSD Africa Investments.
Biodiversity is ranked as the third most significant threat to humanity, after carbon emissions and nuclear war. Yet, less than 16% of the required funding is currently available for biodiversity, leaving a US$ 700 billion funding gap for biodiversity conservation and restoration. Private capital can play a critical role in closing this funding gap while tapping into an attractive asset class that is poised to grow. However, investments are currently limited because there is no standard way to measure, rate, track, and communicate biodiversity impacts. Investors are looking for simple, credible tools based on biodiversity science.
Figure 1: Illustration of the biodiversity conservation funding gap
Source: The Nature Conservancy, Closing the Nature Funding Gap, 2020
To address these challenges, BIRA will advise investors on identifying the opportunities for impact investing in the biodiversity sector, spotlighting relevant frameworks to measure biodiversity investment impacts, and provide existing aligned frameworks with guidance on how to make their tools investor friendly. BIRA aspires to see measurement frameworks that can provide simple answers to investors’ questions about the potential outcomes of biodiversity investments. BIRA will work in collaboration with existing frameworks that meet certain design criteria to develop modules that match measurement frameworks with investor needs.
FSD Africa Investments and Dalberg are excited to welcome ALU’s SOWC as the science and training partner for the initiative. ALU SOWC will bring its expertise in scientific inquiry, research, and training to ensure that the modules developed are credible and usable. BIRA will also lean on SOWC’s expertise to develop and launch training programs that will help bridge the existing knowledge gap in the market.
By bridging the gap between investors and the existing biodiversity measurement frameworks, BIRA will support informed decision-making by investors. Ultimately, this will increase investments in conservation and restoration, leading to positive biodiversity outcomes.
Mike Musgrave, Conservation Leadership Faculty, School of Wildlife Conservation, said:
“Institutional investment in biodiversity as an asset class will be the key to unlocking the billions of private capital we need to address climate change and promote the business of conservation.”
Devang Vussonji, Partner, Dalberg Advisors, said: “We have lost 68% of monitored animal populations between 1970 and 2016. We face a USD 700 billion funding gap in reversing this effect, and private capital will be essential in filling this gap. BIRA aims to attract private capital to the sector by making it easier for private investors to measure, communicate, and track biodiversity outcomes.”
Anne-Marie Chidzero, CIO, FSD Africa Investments, said: “FSD Africa Investments is proud to partner with Dalberg and the African Leadership University’s School of Wildlife Conservation to create the Biodiversity Investment Rating Agency. This innovative initiative to help investors measure and track the impact of their capital on biodiversity conservation and restoration will play a central role in increasing investment in the sector.”
BIRA invites technical partners and investors to join the founding partners in developing the initiative. Interested parties should contact Devang Vussonji at devang.vussonji@dalberg.com.
The grant is to be channeled through FSD Africa’s BimaLab accelerator programme to boost innovation in the sector.
Nairobi, November 30th, 2022 – Swiss Re Foundation has announced a USD 500,000 grant for Africa’s insurance sector to spur innovation of insurance solutions for the underserved. The funding, to be distributed through the FSD Africa’s supported BimaLab insurance accelerator programme, will unlock and accelerate the transformation of Africa’s insurance sector through innovative offerings for the sector’s unique landscape.
Recently, there has been increased attention to Africa’s expanding and promising insurance sector. At the COP27 Summit, over 85 African insurers pledged to create a financing facility to provide $14 billion to support communities impacted by climate change. The cover will help the continent’s most vulnerable communities deal with climate disaster risks such as floods and droughts, cementing the insurance industry’s position in driving the continent’s economic expansion.
Despite its massive potential, research by Brookings Institute indicates that Africa’s insurance sector has a low penetration of 2.78% compared to the global average insurance penetration rate of 7.23%.
Low awareness and low employment levels in the formal sectors, coupled with a lack of trust and experience with traditional insurance institutions, have been attributed to low penetration rates.
To harness the opportunities presented by the insurance sector, FSD Africa, with its partners, launched the BimaLab accelerator programme in 2020. The programme provides resources needed by talented insurtech founders of early to mid-stage start-ups to leverage insurance technology and promote insurance penetration in the continent.
The BimaLab program now in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria has enabled 40 insurtechs to gain visibility and push for resources to scale their innovations. So far, 43 unique products and services have reached over 600,000 customers since the program started in 2020.
Plans to launch the BimaLab Accelerator Programme in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Egypt, and Morocco are underway.
The support of the Swiss Re Foundation will further facilitate the growth of high-impact insurtechs through introducing and scaling innovative products and services to the underserved African market.
Commenting on the new grant, Kelvin Massingham, Director of Risk and Resilience, FSD Africa, said: “The importance of the insurance sector to alleviate the challenges of today cannot be understated. While the African continent continues to report low insurance uptake, there are numerous opportunities for innovators in insurance. We are optimistic that through the grant, the underserved communities will soon start enjoying the safety net provided by insurance from many external threats like natural disasters, health threats, and economic disruptions.”
Elias Omondi, Senior Manager of Risk Regulations at FSD Africa, said: “The support of the Swiss Re Foundation is a significant step towards building an innovative and climate-focused insurance industry that will accommodate the evolving needs of the uninsured.”
Stefan Huber Fux, Director of the Swiss Re Foundation said “We acknowledge the role of the insurance sector in spurring the growth and development of the African continent. Through programmes such as BimaLab, the most vulnerable and low-income people will gain from innovative, affordable, and efficient insurance products and services.”
COP27 may be over but its impact will be felt for many decades to come.
Discussions highlighted nature’s pivotal role in tackling the climate crisis.
Here we reflect on 10 areas where progress is being made on climate action.
The implications of COP27 will likely be felt for decades to come, for better or worse. While a broad range of analysis has already been published on the ultimate outcomes of COP27, this summary includes reflections on how nature was the stand out topic at COP27 – here are the top ten takeaways.
1. Calls for structural reform of finance for nature and climate
It was impossible to pass a day at COP27 without having a conversation about finance – but finance means different things to different people. The breakthrough on loss and damage funding made the headlines, but this year there was much attention on structural reform of the financial system as well as the need to create innovative mechanisms that support nature and climate outcomes at national and ecosystem levels.
The Bridgetown agenda remained a central theme within these discussions. Before COP27, there was much focus on the need for financing adaptation measures – although in fact, very little progressed on this agenda from Glasgow. The multilateral development banks are also under scrutiny – sovereign bonds and sustainability-linked loans and bonds have been high on the agenda. Leading financial institutions from Japan to Norway to Brazil, all signatories to the Financial Sector Commitment on Eliminating Commodity-driven Deforestation have been moving forward with implementation through the Finance Sector Deforestation Action (FSDA) initiative.
FSDA members have published shared investor expectations for companies, and they are stepping up engagement activity and are working with policymakers and data providers. More broadly, the 10 point plan for financing biodiversity moved ahead at COP27 with a ministerial meeting between 16 countries representing five continents to set a pathway for bridging the global biodiversity finance gap – and looking ahead to the biodiversity COP15 in December 2020.
2. Biodiversity COP15 looms large
The biodiversity COP is usually a distant cousin to the climate COP, but in Egypt there was a considerable amount of attention on the need to create a “sister agreement” – a Paris moment for nature. The messaging that the climate and nature crises are deeply linked was made loud and clear at COP27.
On Biodiversity Day, the Paris climate champions urged leaders to step up action to address the accelerating loss of nature by delivering an ambitious biodiversity agreement at COP15 in Montreal. On the same day, more than 340 civil society leaders called on governments to prioritise the biodiversity COP, and a new survey from more than 400 experts from 90 countries revealed that a shocking 88% believe that the state of the world’s nature is “alarming” or “catastrophic and potentially irreversible”.
However, even though many countries were pushing for COP15 to be included in the COP27 text, the attempt failed – a disappointing outcome as net-zero emissions will not be enough to limit rapidly rising temperatures. Governments also need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
3. Strong signs of political will for forests
The creation of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), announced at the World Leaders’ Summit, is being driven by the reality that there is no time to lose when it comes to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, with the intent to demonstrate success by COP28. The leaders of the 28 – and counting – FCLP member countries serve as key actors in the partnership, and its ultimate priority setters.
The FCLP will hold regular meetings, including leader-level moments at the beginning of climate COPs to encourage accountability. Starting in 2023, the FCLP will also publish an annual Global Progress Report that includes independent assessments of global progress toward the 2030 goal, as well as summarising progress made by the FCLP itself, including in its action areas and initiatives.
The presence of Brazil’s president elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, put a spotlight on the Amazon at COP27 – with Brazil promising to prioritise stopping deforestation and offering to host COP30 in three years’ time. Also, an announcement by Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo – made in Indonesia ahead of the G20 – signalled their intentions to work together to protect their vast swathes of tropical forests, earning the nickname “the OPEC of rainforests”.
This chart shows the total hectares of forest that have been destroyed in different countries. Source: Statista.
4. Implementation of forest pledges
Coming into COP27, there were clear signs that the global community is not yet on track to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030. Another UN-led report found that for 2030 goals to remain within reach, a one gigaton milestone of emissions reductions from forests must be achieved not later than 2025, and yearly after that, but that current public and private commitments to pay for emissions reductions are only at 24% of the gigaton milestone goal.
However, it wasn’t all bad news on the implementation front. Nature4Climate’s new joint commitment tracker found that 55% of the commitments tracked are demonstrating substantial signs of progress. There are also some bright spots to celebrate. For example, tropical Asia is on the path toward reversing forest loss by 2030: Indonesia’s deforestation rate dropped by 25% last year, and Malaysia also reported a fall of 24% in the pace of forest loss last year.
Forest pledges made in Glasgow at COP26 were also in the spotlight. In 2021, $2.67 billion was put towards forest-related programmes in developing countries – 22% of the $12 billion pledged at COP26, meaning that donors are on track to deliver by 2025. Private sector funds are also moving: for example, one year after launch, the IFACC initiative is scaling innovative financial mechanisms to help farmers without further conversion of the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco ecosystems.
So far, commitments have risen from $3 billion to $4.2 billion and disbursements are expected to exceed $100 million this year. Similarly, the public-private LEAF Coalition has mobilised an additional $500 million in private finance, bringing a total of $1.5 billion in support of tropical forest protection. This is part of $3.6 billion of new private finance announced at the climate summit.
And exciting private sector initiatives worth noting include the launch of a new company Biomas (by Suzano, Santander, Itau, Marfrig, Rabobank and Vale) to restore 4 million hectares in the Amazon, the Mata Atlantica rainforest and the Cerrado. Also, 1t.org announced pledges from its first four Indian companies (Vedanta, ReNew Power, CSC Group and Mahindra) to join 75 other companies worldwide committed to planting and growing 7 billion trees in more than 60 countries.
5. Nature of negotiations
In the negotiations, nature-based solutions were included in the COP27 text for the first time, with forests, oceans and agriculture each having their own section. The Koronivia Dialogue – the track where food and agriculture is discussed at the UNFCCC – has finally been included in the text, but all eyes turn to COP28 for the focus required to truly transform food systems.
In the wonderful world of Article 6, things remain complex. Last year, at COP26 in Glasgow, countries decided on the basic framework of Article 6. Throughout 2022, countries have been focused on how to operationalise the Article 6 mechanism that allows countries to actually begin trading. In Egypt, the discussions were very technical – such as how registries are going to work, how countries will report on the trading, and what information should be submitted –with the aim of making things easy to track.
For nature, it was decided at COP26 that land use emissions were part of Article 6 – as it includes all sources and sinks. The focus in Egypt has been on article 6.4 – the mechanism for developing guidance on activities involving removals which includes reforestation, restoration, afforestation etc.
6. Technology meets nature
In a similar way to finance, “tech” gets everywhere at climate COPs, although historically that is not really the case when it comes to nature – not this year however. In Egypt, the need for high-tech solutions for nature and climate challenges was a constant refrain. The role of tech in improving transparency and accountability in monitoring supply chains (and tackling deforestation) and also in enhancing the integrity of carbon markets was evident everywhere.
Notable developments include Verra’s partnership with Pachama to pilot a digital measuring, reporting and verification platform for forest carbon. A new Forest Data Partnership was announced by WRI, FAO, USAID, Google, NASA, Unilever and the US State Department. WRI’s Land and Carbon Lab was on show demonstrating the new frontier of measuring carbon stocks and flows associated with land use.
Nature4Climate demonstrated a beta version of its new online platform (naturebase) to help decision makers implement natural climate solutions. And the new Global Renewable Energy Watch – a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Microsoft and Planet – was also demonstrated. Capturing this emerging trend, Nature4Climate and Capital for Climate launched a report on the size and potential of the whole “nature tech” market that was discussed at an event in the Nature Zone.
7. Food finally arrives on the scene
Food was on everyone’s mind at COP27 in Egypt – but for the first time, it also made it onto the main agenda – being recognised in the final text and also with at least five event spaces solely dedicated to food and agriculture.
Important developments included the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation Initiative (FAST) launched by the Egyptian COP presidency – a multi stakeholder partnership to accelerate access to finance, build capacity and encourage policy development to ensure food security in countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Also related to food, 14 of the world’s largest agricultural trading and processing companies shared their roadmap to 1.5℃ – to mixed reactions – with detailed plans on outlining how they will remove deforestation from their agricultural commodity supply chains by 2025.
8. An increasingly blue COP
Observers have expressed encouragement at this being “an increasingly blue COP”, with the ocean called out in the final declaration and the first ever ocean pavilion in the blue zone. Several declarations reinforced the recognition of the fundamental role of the ocean in the climate system.
The critical role that Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) play as guardians of the forest is now firmly established and beyond question. At COP27, there was a polite but palpable frustration from IPLCs that climate funds are not reaching them. This massive deficit is increasingly being acknowledged by both by Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors, with a wide range of events dedicated to this topic.
While COP27 was a good space for Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors to share knowledge, to listen deeply to one another, to build relationships, it clearly can’t be the only space. While there are a number of encouraging signs of progress, including linking IPLCs with high-integrity markets, it’s clear the clock is ticking and IPLCs are getting impatient.
Clearly we must act with urgency, but it’s critical to take the time to build trust and mutual understanding, including absolute adherence to free, prior and informed consent protocols. This is necessary so that IPLCs can decide (or not) to participate in carbon markets with transparency, full understanding, and free consent. This takes time.
10. African-led initiatives take centre stage
While this was not the “African COP” that many hoped it might be, there were still a range of significant announcements coming out of Egypt that highlighted the continent’s potential as a natural capital powerhouse. These included the launch of the Africa Carbon Markets initiative, the Declaration for the Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative, the launch of a $2 billion African restoration fund, a funding boost for Africa’s visionary Great Green Wall initiatives, and the announcement by the Global EverGreening Alliance and Climate Impact Partners of a new partnership to up to $330 million in community-led removal programs across Africa and Asia.
At An Average Investment Of USD 250 Billion Annually From 2020 To 2030
The African continent presents a massive investment opportunity for investors to advance the deployment of climate solutions in the coming decade according to a new report Climate Finance Innovation for Africa. However, this will require innovation in financing structures and the strategic deployment of public capital to ‘crowd-in’ private investment at levels not yet seen.
Current levels of climate finance in Africa fall far short of needs. Africa’s USD 2.5 trillion of climate finance needed between 2020 and 2030 requires, on average, USD 250 billion each year. Total annual climate finance flows in Africa for 2020, domestic and international, were only USD 30 billion (CPI forthcoming), about 12% of the amount needed.
Barriers related to shallow financial market depth, governance, project-specific characteristics, and enabling skills and infrastructure have stifled private investment in African climate solutions to date.
To overcome these challenges will require innovation in financing structures. But there is no one-size fits all. Public and private investors must tailor their financial instruments and strategies depending on the acute or chronic nature of the barriers identified.
Recommended actions for increasing deployment of innovative finance include:
Identify and understand barriers constraining finance by sector and geography. Private investors must have the data to assess the risks affecting each investment decision based on its geographic and sectoral context. Building on their role as a catalyst for change, public investors should then deploy capital in a targeted way to address the specific barriers constricting private investment.
Match instruments with barriers. Public and private investors must tailor their financial instruments and strategies depending on the acute or chronic- nature of the barriers identified. The framework developed in this CPI study can serve as a toolbox for investors to access when reviewing investment opportunities in climate solutions.
Match instruments with project and technology lifecycles. As climate investments are typically long-term opportunities, investors must look to deploy different financial instruments and strategies in direct response to lifecycle-dependent considerations.
Enhance engagement and co-financing with local stakeholders. International private and public investors must work in collaboration with local stakeholders. This can help build capacity among local investors and inform targeted action by governments to improve investment performance.
Support innovation by establishing conducive policy and regulatory frameworks. Governance barriers remain one of the key impediments to sourcing climate finance in Africa. Most importantly, policymakers and regulators can foster climate finance innovation by adopting policy frameworks and long-term roadmaps.
This work provides a framework for how these instruments and strategies can be efficiently deployed to overcome barriers to finance and capitalise climate solutions in Africa. Real-world examples include:
TerraFund for AFR 100 has deployed a standardized process to deploy early-stage catalytic finance and technical assistance to spur the growth of grassroots innovators operating in the challenging land restoration sub-sector. It has mobilized USD 20 million in its initial round of investment, doubling the fundraising target it set out to raise over three years in 2020.
The Sub-National Climate Finance Initiative’s use of blended private equity and technical assistance to overcome the project and governance barriers facing investment in mid-sized climate infrastructure projects. To date, it has secured USD 150 million in funding for its blended equity fund.
Revego Africa Energy’s strategy of aggregating a diversified portfolio of operating renewable energy assets into Africa’s first YieldCo to attract investment from key/blue chip institutional investors. With support from a public-private partnership between Macquarie and the UK Government, Revego has secured institutional capital from one of the largest pension funds in South Africa.
This brief provides an overview of financial and non-financial solutions to address sector specific barriers. It provides six groups of practical instruments: non-tradable finance instruments; capital market instruments; result-based finance instruments; risk mitigation instruments; structured finance mechanisms and non-financial tools. Each of these tools has the potential to address one or more of the barriers currently hindering climate investments in Africa.
Kenya will be the first country to benefit from an initiative by players in Africa’s housing sector seeking to make critical data available for developers, financiers and the public.
Through the Open Access Initiative, data on the cost of construction, time taken to complete projects, and specific challenges arising in the housing sector will be made public across the continent.
The initiative which will cover the continent is being piloted in Kenya.
The Open Access Initiative is being spearheaded by the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF), Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa Investments, Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya, and Reall and International Housing Solutions (IHS).
Together, these market facilitators have formed the Affordable Housing Investment Alliance (AHIA) which will in turn drive the Open Access Initiative.
The anticipation is that this data will guide investors in affordable housing on what units are profitable, areas that are underserved, and how to navigate the challenges and returns on investments.
Ultimately, this information is expected to save investors money and time.
Smart investment decisions
The initiative comes a few months after the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance (CAHF) and the Africa Union for Housing Finance (AHF) pointed out in a report on the lack of good data which should inform investors in the sector. As such, investing in the sector is risky and expensive.
This new initiative will then be the guiding torch in these murky waters for investors.
According to the vision of this initiative, the plan is to have affordable housing practitioners – developers, financiers and investors – share data and delivery experiences in a central repository.
This repository will then become the full database of all investments into affordable housing in Africa, Kenya being the pioneer.
“Data and information sharing between the parties and collaboration in the advocacy and engagement processes will leverage the individual efforts of the parties to realise economies of scale in improving the enabling environment for affordable housing,” reads the vision board of the alliance.
The alliance notes that although data is fundamental to the investment decision, there is limited good quality and focused data.
“Investors and developers all highlight the difficulty of accessing data that gives an accurate picture of the affordable housing investment opportunity and its risks,” said the alliance.
Open platform
The data is limited in composition and associated costs, clarity of the process followed when development was being put up (including steps, time and costs) – the blockages that arise, impact on affordability, details relating to people, target market and their affordability.
In addition, the data does not include other financial pressures, housing needs, the performance of the investment – whether it is a worthwhile venture or not – and how improvements can be done.
The solution to this problem as the document proposes is to have this information public. The Open Access Initiative approach, according to the document, asserts that when money is invested into a development, it should have a twin objective – achieve the immediate development output (housing units) and support the broader market development.
“In order to achieve the latter, the sharing of data and information related to the investment experience becomes a condition of investment. Over the course of the investment, this data and information will be collected and then developed into useful outputs for sharing in the public domain,” the document says.
Outputs will be produced on various levels, some will target participating developers, other development finance institutions (DFIs) and the general public. To amplify the usage of information at hand AHIA will produce a wide range of outputs, such as project fact sheets, investment fact sheets, action briefs and case studies as well as a data dashboard.
“It is anticipated that these outputs will support actors along the housing value chain to support investments in overcoming blockages they face and develop tools, frameworks, and baseline research to support both the investee and other market players in addressing the challenges that they confront in delivering affordable housing.”
Showcase activities
Additionally, the output will showcase the activities of market players engaging in affordable housing, demonstrating their focused attention on both opportunities and risks and encouraging greater investment into the affordable housing sector, given the clear attention to delivery risks, and the identification of niche market opportunities enabled through this effort.
“The Open Access Initiative is about market development. The intention is to build and support a more competitive environment in which a range of market players see (and can act on) opportunities to invest while raising the bar on quality and long-term sustainability,” the alliance says in the document.
“Ultimately, it can contribute towards an overall cost saving in the actual product and the time taken to achieve its delivery, benefiting the original data sharer, the investor, and the market as a whole,” it adds.
In a nutshell, the alliance says, the Open Access Initiative asserts that sector players should not compete on how to access information but on how it is used to optimise resources.
As the international climate community prepares to descend on Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, new analysis shows just how far off their host continent is in terms of attracting the finance it needs to adapt to catastrophic global warming, build renewable energy plants and enhance its carbon-absorbing ecosystems.
At $30 billion, annual climate finance flows in Africa are just 11% of the $277 billion needed, according to research published Wednesday by the Climate Policy Initiative, a US-based nonprofit. The research was commissioned by FSD Africa, an organization funded by the UK government, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, a charity set up by billionaire hedge fund activist Christopher Hohn, and UK Aid. It’s the first to map climate finance flows in Africa by region, sector and source, and captures available data for 2019 and 2020.
Top of the agenda at the November UN climate summit in Egypt, known as COP27, will be demands from developing nations for more funding from rich countries to adapt to global warming and a financing mechanism to help them cope with natural disasters and extreme weather events. In 2009, developed countries committed to $100 billion of assistance for poorer nations every year. They have fallen significantly short of that target.
Africa accounts for a tiny fraction of the world’s carbon emissions but its nations will be among the hardest hit by global warming, already manifested globally in disasters ranging from heat waves in Europe to droughts in the Horn of Africa and floods in Pakistan.
“A report such as this allows us to measure whether the commitments of developed countries to provide finance to developing countries, is indeed being delivered,” said Valli Moosa, deputy chairman and effective head of South Africa’s Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission, in a statement.
Private sector finance in particular remains too low, the Climate Policy Initiative said in the report. Companies and commercial financial institutions contributed just 14% of total climate finance received in Africa, much lower than in other developing regions.
What on Earth?What on Earth?What on Earth?The Bloomberg Green newsletter is your guide to the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance.The Bloomberg Green newsletter is your guide to the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance.The Bloomberg Green newsletter is your guide to the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance.
Existing flows are highly concentrated, with 10 of the 54 countries on the continent accounting for more than half of Africa’s climate finance. These include Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa. The Southern African region bears the largest financing gap in absolute terms, attributed by the researchers to the $107 billion annual needs of South Africa alone, combined with one of the lowest regional levels of climate investment. As a percentage of gross domestic product, countries in Central and East Africa face the largest investment gaps.
Investment Opportunities
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized nation, is transitioning from reliance on coal for more than 80% of its electricity to renewable energy, meaning that billions of dollars will need to be spent on new power plants and an expanded electricity grid.
“Public and private actors must act with scale and speed to help bring Africa’s climate goals to fruition,” said Barbara Buchner, global managing director of the Climate Policy Initiative. “Africa offers a wealth of climate-related investment opportunities” and “the social, economic, and environmental benefits which could be realized are even greater,” she said.
Those investment opportunities are spread across a number of sectors, including clean energy plants and agribusiness. Annual investment in renewable power stands at just 7% of the $133 billion that the International Energy Agency estimates African countries need to meet their 2030 energy and climate goals, according to the research. Agriculture and forestry investments are also falling short of financing needs.
Several venture capital firms are actively hunting startups while others are building up their war chests to capitalise on existing opportunities – including the take-over of successful and promising energy startups.
Nairobi. Startups working to mitigate climate change in Africa have caught the eye of investors as venture funds flow into technology that could shape the future of energy on the continent.
Investment into African tech startups that focus on mitigating climate change is beginning to rise, following a global trend – albeit at much lower valuations than elsewhere.
Since the start of the year, green tech startups offering solutions that help countries keep to the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius have attracted growing investor interest.
Several venture capital firms are actively hunting startups while others are building up their war chests to capitalise on existing opportunities – including the take-over of successful and promising energy startups.
The recent acquisition of Ghana-based solar energy startup, PEG Africa, by UK-based power company, Bboxx is among the most significant deals in this vertical, so far.
PEG, with a pay-as-you-go solar home system, has a customer reach of one million. The company, already present in Senegal, Ghana, Mali and Ivory Coast, is served by over 500 employees in 100 centres. Reports value the deal at US$ 200 million.
“The agreement was closed on 6th September 2022. Financials have not been disclosed,” said Bboxx in a statement.
Following the deal, the two became the fastest-growing clean energy firms on the continent, with a combined customer base of 3.5 million across 10 African countries.
Canadian investor FinDev Canada pumped US$ 13 million into the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF) in January. EEGF invests in early and growth-stage energy startups in sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund – founded by oil marketer Shell – seeks to increase access to clean energy for households and off-grid businesses in the region.
Two months ago, Africa’s Climate Venture Builder, Persistent Energy, closed a $10 million series C funding round to strengthen its team and scale climate activities in Africa. It said the funding has the potential to improve 2 million lives, create 6,000 green jobs and cut 700,000 tonnes of carbon emission.
“By leveraging powerful partnerships, we will be able to accelerate our most pioneering venture building investments, driving the transition to clean energy, promoting e-mobility and finding innovative business models and technological developments across the continent,” said Persistent Managing Partner, Tobias Ruckstuhl.
Over the last two decades, Persistent has engaged in 22 early-stage investments in pay-as-you-go- solar home systems, commercial and industrial solar, as well as e-mobility players including Kenya’s e-mobility startup, Ecobodaa.
Boston-based venture accelerator, Catalyst Fund has announced plans to begin funding Fintech and climate resilience startups in Africa starting October 2022.
“We are actively looking for early-stage startups that improve the resilience of underserved and climate-vulnerable communities in emerging markets. Our next cohort will kick off in October 2022,” announced the venture firm.
It is looking for startups offering solutions in recycling, sustainable agriculture, carbon credits and sustainable utilities like water management and clean energy. Already, the fund has received $3.5 million from FSD Africa to support these initiatives.
Research firm Magnitt, shows energy startups raised hundreds of millions of dollars in the first half of 2022. Africa energy startups drove 67 percent of this capital.
A comparative report, State of Climate Tech 2021 by advisory firm PwC also highlights the growing attractiveness of the sector across the globe.
According to the report, investments in climate tech surged in the first half of 2021, to US$ 87.5 billion globally, from a low of US$ 28 billion in the second half of 2020.
“Though this area presents a major commercial opportunity, due to the inherent value associated with reducing emissions, there is still much work to be done to channel this investment appropriately,” said PwC researchers.
US climate tech firms raised the largest share (US$ 56.6billion), followed by Europe and China (US$ 18.3 billion and US$ 9 billion respectively). Most of this capital funding growth targetted electric vehicles.
Kenya is among the developing countries that accounted for 50 per cent of total tracked private finance flowing into Africa, according to a new report by Climate Policy Initiative.
With private climate financing valued at close to 4.2 billion dollars (Sh506.5 billion) flowing into the continent in 2022, it means that Kenya and other developing countries received green financing amounting to Sh253.3 billion.
The report has, however, indicated that Africa needs nine times more climate financing annually than the 30 billion dollars (Sh3.6 trillion) inflows it received in 2020 to implement plans to cut emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=WpY2b7Q7RN4
The findings show that the private sector’s contribution towards climate-related financing in Africa was too low, at only 14 per cent (4.2 billion dollars) of total climate finance in Africa.
This article was submitted to TechCabal by Conrad Onyango, bird story agency*
Investment into African tech startups that focus on mitigating climbing change is beginning to rise, following a global trend – albeit at much lower valuations than elsewhere.
Since the start of the year, green tech startups offering solutions that help countries keep to the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius have attracted growing investor interest.
Several venture capital firms are actively hunting startups while others are building up their war chests to capitalise on existing opportunities – including the take-over of successful and promising energy startups.
The recent acquisition of Ghana-based solar energy startup, PEG Africa, by UK-based power company, Bboxx is among the most significant deals in this vertical, so far.
PEG, with a pay-as-you-go solar home system, has a customer reach of one million. The company, already present in Senegal, Ghana, Mali and Ivory Coast, is served by over 500 employees in 100 centres. Reports value the deal at US$ 200 million.
“The agreement was closed on 6th September 2022. Financials have not been disclosed,” said Bboxx in a statement.
Following the deal, the two became the fastest-growing clean energy firms on the continent, with a combined customer base of 3.5 million across 10 African countries.
Canadian investor FinDev Canada pumped US$ 13 million into the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF) in January. EEGF invests in early and growth-stage energy startups in sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund – founded by oil marketer Shell – seeks to increase access to clean energy for households and off-grid businesses in the region.
Two months ago, Africa’s Climate Venture Builder, Persistent Energy, closed a US $ 10 million series C funding round to strengthen its team and scale climate activities in Africa. It said the funding has the potential to improve 2 million lives, create 6,000 green jobs and cut 700,000 tonnes of carbon emission.
“By leveraging powerful partnerships, we will be able to accelerate our most pioneering venture building investments, driving the transition to clean energy, promoting e-mobility and finding innovative business models and technological developments across the continent,” said Persistent Managing Partner, Tobias Ruckstuhl.
Over the last two decades, Persistent has engaged in 22 early-stage investments in pay-as-you-go- solar home systems, commercial and industrial solar, as well as e-mobility players including Kenya’s e-mobility startup, Ecobodaa.
Boston-based venture accelerator, Catalyst Fund has announced plans to begin funding Fintech and climate resilience startups in Africa starting October 2022.
“We are actively looking for early-stage startups that improve the resilience of underserved and climate-vulnerable communities in emerging markets. Our next cohort will kick off in October 2022,” announced the venture firm.
It is looking for startups offering solutions in recycling, sustainable agriculture, carbon credits and sustainable utilities like water management and clean energy. Already, the fund has received US $ 3.5 million from FSD Africa to support these initiatives.
Research firm Magnitt, shows energy startups raised hundreds of millions of dollars in the first half of 2022. Africa energy startups drove 67 percent of this capital.
A comparative report, State of Climate Tech 2021 by advisory firm PwC also highlights the growing attractiveness of the sector across the globe.
According to the report, investments in climate tech surged in the first half of 2021, to US$ 87.5 billion globally, from a low of US$ 28 billion in the second half of 2020.
“Though this area presents a major commercial opportunity, due to the inherent value associated with reducing emissions, there is still much work to be done to channel this investment appropriately,” said PwC researchers.
US climate tech firms raised the largest share (US$ 56.6billion), followed by Europe and China (US$ 18.3 billion and US$ 9 billion respectively). Most of this capital funding growth targetted electric vehicles.
If Africa is to meet its 2030 climate goals and implement the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs), climate finance on the continent must hit $277 billion, a new study on the Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa says.
The study, commissioned by the Financial Sector Deepening Africa, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and UK Aid finds that total annual climate finance flows in Africa – both domestic and international was $30 billion, which is just 11 percent of the needed $277 billion.
