Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa 2024

Climate finance in Africa grew by 48% between 2019/20 and 2021/22, reaching USD 43.7 billion, yet this remains only 23% of the annual funding required to meet 2030 NDC goals. Public finance dominates the landscape, providing 82% of total flows, while private finance is heavily concentrated in energy systems and a small number of countries. The report highlights a critical 'trilemma' where climate-vulnerable countries are often simultaneously debt-distressed and conflict-affected, further hindering their access to grants and affordable capital. Key recommendations include reforming domestic fiscal policies to remove fossil fuel subsidies, scaling the use of guarantees to de-risk private investment, and leveraging domestic institutional assets, such as pension funds, to reduce reliance on international debt.

• Climate finance flows to Africa increased by 48% from USD 29.5 billion in 2019/20 to USD 43.7 billion in 2021/22, with annual investment crossing the USD 50 billion mark for the first time in 2022.
• There is a massive funding gap: current flows meet only 23% of the estimated annual finance required for African countries to implement their NDCs and meet 2030 goals, which are estimated at just under USD 2 trillion until 2030.
• Public finance is the primary source of climate funding, providing 82% of total flows, with multilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) alone contributing 43% (USD 19 billion) of overall flows.
• Private climate finance almost doubled to USD 8 billion between 2019/20 and 2021/22, but it remains highly concentrated, with 76% of total private climate finance going to just ten countries.
• Climate finance is heavily skewed toward energy systems, which received 31% (USD 13.6 billion) of overall finance and 62% of mitigation finance in 2021/22.
• Adaptation finance has decreased as a share of total flows, dropping from 39% in 2019/20 to 32% in 2021/22, despite an absolute increase to USD 13.8 billion.
• Debt instruments dominate the finance mix, accounting for 51% of all investments, which is more than double the proportion of debt used in other regions like East Asia and the Pacific (18%).
• A significant disparity exists in the distribution of international finance: ten countries receive 46% of total funding, while the ten most vulnerable countries receive only 11%.
• Africa's voluntary carbon markets (VCM) are growing, with the global value share of African projects increasing from 10% in 2021 to 26% in 2023, though issues with transparency and pricing persist.
• There is a vast untapped pool of domestic capital, with bank, insurance, and pension assets under management estimated at USD 2.4 trillion, yet domestic finance made up only 10% of total climate finance.

APA

FSD Africa (2024). Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa 2024. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Africa-202497.pdf

Chicago

FSD Africa. Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa 2024. 2024. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Africa-202497.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=FSD Africa |title=Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa 2024 |date=October 2024 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Africa-202497.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fsdafrica2024landscape, author = {{FSD Africa}}, title = {{Landscape of Climate Finance in Africa 2024}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Africa-202497.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }