The African continent contributes only around 4 percent to the world’s CO2 emissions. Yet when it comes to the negative impacts of climate change, African countries are among the most vulnerable.

In order to adapt to these impacts, and to meet critical sustainable development goals, significant financial resources are required. However, only a small fraction of global climate finance flows are in fact directed to Africa.

A recent IMF study found a funding gap of at least half a trillion USD that would need to be closed by 2030 for low-income developing countries, including most African countries. Public finance is inadequate to meet all these investment needs, and thus an ambitious and a shift in private sector finance is imperative if we are to make significant progress. 

The objective of this research is to highlight the state of development finance and investments in Africa, and to look at the role of sustainable finance in scaling up efforts to achieve the SDGs and Paris climate targets. Aside from examining the constraints and risks to investment in Africa, it also identifies the opportunities for scaling up finance flows into sectors likely to make the most impact.