Landscape of Climate Finance in Nigeria

In 2019/2020, Nigeria received an average of USD 1.9 billion annually in climate finance, representing only 11% of the USD 17.7 billion needed to meet its conditional NDC target. Public finance dominated the landscape, accounting for 77% of flows, primarily through concessional debt. Mitigation finance (USD 1.1 billion) outweighed adaptation finance (USD 663 million), despite the country's high vulnerability to climate risks. Energy systems received the largest share of investment (41%), with a strong focus on solar technologies, while sectors like waste and industrial processes remained severely underfunded. The report highlights a significant contradiction between climate finance goals and continued heavy investment in fossil fuels, noting that a single LNG project received USD 2.77 billion—more than the total tracked climate finance for the period.

• Nigeria's annual climate finance in 2019/2020 averaged USD 1.9 billion, which is only 11% of the estimated USD 17.7 billion required annually to achieve its conditional Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of reducing emissions by 47% below business-as-usual by 2030.
• Fossil fuel financing continues to overshadow climate finance; Nigeria ranked second in Africa for the number of financed fossil fuel projects between 2016 and 2021, with one liquified natural gas (LNG) project alone receiving USD 2.77 billion.
• Public actors provided the vast majority of climate finance (77% or USD 1.5 billion), while private sector investment lagged at 23% (USD 0.4 billion).
• Mitigation finance totaled USD 1.1 billion in 2019/2020, while adaptation finance was USD 663 million, a level the report argues is inconsistent with Nigeria's high vulnerability and low readiness for adaptation.
• Climate finance is primarily channeled through debt, with concessional debt accounting for 46% and non-concessional debt for 25%; grants (5%) and equity (12%) play minimal roles.
• Energy systems were the primary recipient of climate finance (41%), with solar technologies receiving 66% of that sector's investment. However, these flows are dwarfed by the USD 14 billion Nigerians spend annually on small-scale diesel generators.
• Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) received 16% (USD 301 million) of total climate finance, with 83% of that funding dedicated to adaptation objectives.
• There are critical sectoral gaps in climate finance for Waste, Water, and Industrial Processes & Product Use (IPPU), with IPPU receiving negligible funding and Water & Wastewater receiving only 2% of total flows.
• Nigeria has established a green bond framework that catalyzed USD 165.1 million in climate finance between 2017 and 2021, including issuances by the Federal Government and private entities like Access Bank.
• Significant barriers to scaling climate finance include a lack of domestic budget tagging, limited private sector mobilization (particularly from pension funds), and a lack of technical capacity for GHG inventory management and MRV systems.

APA

Stout, S., & Meattle, C. (2022). Landscape of Climate Finance in Nigeria. FSD Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Nigeria.pdf

Chicago

Stout, Sean, and Chavi Meattle. Landscape of Climate Finance in Nigeria. FSD Africa, 2022. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Nigeria.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stout |first1=Sean |last2=Meattle |first2=Chavi |title=Landscape of Climate Finance in Nigeria |publisher=FSD Africa |date=October 2022 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Nigeria.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stout2022landscape, author = {Stout, Sean and Meattle, Chavi}, title = {{Landscape of Climate Finance in Nigeria}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Landscape-of-Climate-Finance-in-Nigeria.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }