The State of Climate Finance in Africa

This report by FSD Africa and Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the climate finance needs of African countries based on their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It estimates that implementing these NDCs between 2020 and 2030 will cost USD 2.8 trillion, with a funding gap of USD 2.5 trillion that must be met by international and private sources. The report highlights significant data gaps in adaptation needs and sectoral disaggregation, and recommends that the UNFCCC provide standardized guidance to help countries develop robust, bottom-up financing roadmaps.

• The total cost to implement Africa's NDCs between 2020 and 2030 is estimated at USD 2.8 trillion. African governments have committed USD 264 billion in domestic public resources, which is approximately 10% of the total cost, leaving a 'climate finance need' of USD 2.5 trillion to be sourced from international public and private sectors.
• Current climate finance flows in Africa are insufficient to meet reported needs. Annual flows for 2020 were approximately USD 30 billion, which is about 12% of the USD 250 billion required annually to meet 2030 goals. This implies a need to mobilize an additional 10% of Africa's current annual GDP every year for the next decade.
• Mitigation represents the largest share of reported climate finance needs at 66% (USD 1,607 billion). The transport sector accounts for 41% (USD 657 billion) of these mitigation needs, though this is heavily skewed by South Africa, which represents 94% of the transport total. Excluding South Africa, energy becomes the primary mitigation need at 39%.
• Adaptation needs are estimated at USD 579 billion, representing only 24% of total needs. The report suggests these figures are likely underestimated due to a lack of technical expertise and data, as well as the uncertainty of future emissions scenarios.
• Climate finance needs as a percentage of GDP vary wildly across the continent. The Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Somalia report the highest needs relative to GDP, all exceeding 80%. In contrast, Nigeria's needs represent only 3% of its national GDP, and Egypt's are less than 2%.
• There is a significant reliance on public funding, with 87% (USD 20 billion) of current climate finance coming from public actors. The report notes that NDCs rarely discuss the role of the private sector, despite its potential, including USD 700 billion in assets under management in African pension funds and USD 16.4 billion in sovereign wealth funds.
• African countries use inconsistent methodologies to estimate needs, primarily split between 'goal-based estimation' (top-down scenarios) and 'project-list estimation' (bottom-up aggregation). Out of 53 NDCs, 27 used goal-based methods, 17 used project-list methods, and two used both.
• The report identifies several barriers to mobilizing private investment, including technology-specific uncertainty, policy barriers like uncertain permitting, investment environment issues such as a lack of liquid financial markets, and bankability barriers including high debt costs and off-taker creditworthiness.

APA

Guzmán, S., Dobrovich, G., Balm, A., & Meattle, C. (2022). The State of Climate Finance in Africa. FSD Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Climate-Finance-Needs-of-African-Countries1.pdf

Chicago

Guzmán, Sandra, Greta Dobrovich, Anna Balm, and Chavi Meattle. The State of Climate Finance in Africa. FSD Africa, 2022. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Climate-Finance-Needs-of-African-Countries1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Guzmán |first1=Sandra |last2=Dobrovich |first2=Greta |last3=Balm |first3=Anna |last4=Meattle |first4=Chavi |title=The State of Climate Finance in Africa |publisher=FSD Africa |date=June 2022 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Climate-Finance-Needs-of-African-Countries1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{guzmn2022state, author = {Guzmán, Sandra and Dobrovich, Greta and Balm, Anna and Meattle, Chavi}, title = {{The State of Climate Finance in Africa}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Climate-Finance-Needs-of-African-Countries1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }