Africa Needs to Turn Climate Targets into Green Strategies

Apr 25 , 2026
By Sunru Yong , Saliem Fakir

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Africa is laying the foundations for an era of green development, with 47 countries already submitting updated decarbonisation plans under the 2015 Paris agreement. True leadership is evolving beyond setting ambitious emissions-reduction targets. This shift in approach allows development finance institutions to better align their technical assistance with the specific needs of each country. In this commentary provided by Project Syndicate, Sunru Yong, a partner at Dalberg Advisors, and Saliem Fakir, founder and executive director of the African Climate Foundation (ACF), argue that the challenge is no longer about framing the problem but about executing strategies that deliver economic prosperity.

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Africa's immense renewable-energy potential and fast-growing population offer the continent a rare opportunity to pursue economic strategies that can deliver resilient and sustainable growth. Climate action is a tremendous development opportunity for Africa, as well as an environmental necessity.

Many African governments have already assumed a leadership role on this front. So far, 47 African countries have submitted the second round of nationally determined contributions (NDC), the decarbonisation plans required under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, while 23 have submitted the third round. Their contributions have become increasingly ambitious, with higher emissions-reduction targets, and their adaptation planning has improved.

The direction of travel is clear. Africa is laying the foundations for an era of green development. Investment flows have begun to reflect this rising climate ambition, with the continent receiving around 15 billion dollars in renewable energy financing in 2023, more than double the previous year. But a persistent financing gap remains. In recent years, Africa has received only 11pc of the 277 billion dollars required annually to implement the national contributions and meet its 2030 climate goals.

One of the main problems is that planning has outpaced the creation of a pipeline of concrete investment opportunities, a challenge not unique to Africa. For most countries, the hardest part of the green transition is not setting targets or building frameworks, but ensuring there are enough climate-mitigation projects into which investors can deploy capital.

Many national policymakers take a "wish list" approach to their national contributions, without thinking about investment potential or how they contribute to economic transformation. Governments undermine their credibility when they shop a long list of decarbonisation ideas that do not translate into bankable projects. And when NDCs are misaligned with the broader economic-growth agenda, they are likely to cause intragovernmental disputes that stall progress. Investors often echo these concerns, describing national contributions as extensive lists of aspirations that lack clarity on prioritisation and implementation.

In many cases, climate investments are capital-intensive, policy-dependent, and slow to mature. When countries fail to substantiate their commitments for national contributions with investable strategies and connect them to policy reforms, fiscal allocations, and regulatory signals, assessing risk and return becomes more difficult. This reduces the likelihood of mobilising capital, whether commercial, philanthropic, or concessional, particularly amid tightening global financial conditions.

Fortunately, African countries can close this gap by adopting a practical and results-focused approach to translating NDCs into concrete, actionable plans that deliver climate resilience and economic prosperity. That means explicitly anchoring opportunities in national development and sectoral priorities. Instead of focusing on isolated projects that serve only a single climate objective, policymakers should promote those that contribute to the development of durable capabilities, value chains, institutional capacity, or key infrastructure. It also means encouraging private investment alongside public or concessional funds.

Some opportunities are already commercially attractive. Others may require blended finance, targeted policy reforms, or stronger enabling environments. And still others may have no medium-term pathway to economic viability and require philanthropic funding. Distinguishing between these categories and matching the right type of capital to the right opportunity requires a structured, iterative approach.

That is why the African Climate Foundation (ACF), together with Dalberg Advisors, developed the NDC Investment Planner, a framework that helps governments assess the impact of mitigation and adaptation solutions, enabling a better understanding of their contributions to NDCs. The Planner facilitates the systematic evaluation of these opportunities in terms of their investment potential and their alignment with broader economic goals. This helps countries identify high-priority areas for commercial financing, which can improve project preparation, and those that require policy alignment or concessional support.

The National Planner is a platform for creating pipelines of investment-ready climate projects that can attract public, concessional, and private capital. The goal is to enable policymakers to strengthen coordination across government ministries and focus on opportunities that can be packaged into credible portfolios, accelerating the green transition. With this framework, partners and development finance institutions can better align technical assistance and funding, while the private sector can engage earlier, with clearer entry points and greater confidence in proposed projects.

From mini-grids and off-grid solar to improved agricultural inputs and green manufacturing, Africa's climate transition has the potential to drive economic growth while strengthening resilience. But to realise this ambition, the continent should reimagine climate leadership. The challenge is not setting targets but translating them into strategies that attract the investment needed to deliver real results.

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PUBLISHED ON Apr 25,2026 [ VOL 27 , NO 1356]

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