By Milliam Murigi
Africa has been urged to continue with the push for climate financing despite the slow pace of mobilisation and the unfulfilled pledges made by developed nations.
Speaking during the third Africa journalists’ climate training in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, experts also cautioned that while external resources remain critical, African countries must re-examine their domestic priorities and redirect public resources away from sectors that harm the environment.
“Though the system is not working, there is need for African countries to continue pushing for resources as well as continue pushing for redirecting of public resources from the harmful sectors,” said Saada Mohamed Sala, Climate Finance Associate, Power Shift Africa.
Redirecting public funds away from fossil fuel subsidies and other environmentally harmful activities, according to Saada, will help bridge the financing gap while strengthening the case for greater global support.
According to her, so far, money pledged to support climate action in developing nations has been trickling in at a much slower rate than expected. Even the commitments announced in Baku during COP 29 are yet to be fullfilled, raising concern over the credibility of climate finance promises.
For example, a report that was released today by Oxfam and IGAD ahead of the Second African Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, shows that rich countries meet only 4 per cent of funds East Africa needs to address climate change this is a massive 96 per cent less than the $41.8 billion that IGAD countries say they need annually to implement their national climate action plans until 2030.
The amount is also 25 per cent less than the $2.3 billion annually reported by rich countries which includes grants and loans. The loans are worsening the debt crisis which reduce the capacity of countries to cope with climate change impacts.
Climate advocates say this should not discourage African nations. Instead, they stress that the continent must continue pressing for the delivery of climate finance while building resilience through smarter use of its own resources.
“Africa cannot afford to wait endlessly for external support. We must keep demanding what was promised, but also ensure our own budgets prioritise renewable energy, sustainable farming, and climate-resilient infrastructure,” said Fatuma Hussein from the Office of Kenya’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.
According to her, there is need for the continent to deepen domestic capital markets and pipelines, accelerate the African Credit Rating Agency, reform MDBs/IFI fiscal space through grants, concessional finance, and debt sustainability, expand risk-sharing to mobilize private capital and strengthen credit-rating entities’ presence on the continent.
Speaking at the same event, Mohamed Adow, Director, Powershift Africa said that Africa must stay on the frontline of the global climate finance debate, not just as a recipient of pledges but as a driver of solutions.
With vast renewable energy potential, a young workforce, and growing innovations, the continent according to him can lead in shaping global solutions. But without fair and timely financing, these opportunities risk being lost, leaving millions exposed to worsening droughts, floods, and food insecurity.
“Nowhere is climate injustice more evident than in climate finance. African countries, which contribute the least to global emissions, are forced to borrow from multilateral development banks at crippling interest rates of up to 15 percent, while much of Europe pays as little as 2 percent,” says Adow.
This disparity, according to him, not only deepens debt burdens but also limits Africa’s ability to invest in the resilience and clean energy projects it urgently needs. The unequal cost of borrowing underscores how the very system meant to support vulnerable nations instead reinforces global inequality.
