Sub-Saharan Africa consists of 46 of Africa’s 54 countries that are geographically south of the Sahara. It is home to over 1.1 billion people. By 2060, the population could expand to some 2.7 billion people.
Although urbanization rates are increasing and expected to double to approximately 900 million people over the next 25 years (from 2018), agriculture and other rural occupations, such as forestry, are currently the main contributors to the economy.
Forests cover more than a quarter of a total land area that is exceptionally species rich and of great ecological importance to the world.
Investing in Sub-Saharan Africa
Investments in energy and climate resilience in the region are crucial. Demonstrating its recognition of this importance, the region has set new targets to increase renewable energy generation capacity from 28 to 28 gigawatts, support integrated landscape management of more than 60 million hectares in 20 countries, and improve the livelihoods of more than 10 million farmers through climate-smart agriculture.
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF), since its inception, has invested in 21 countries in the region: from Ethiopia in the East, across to Sierra Leone in the West, and down to South Africa — the region's biggest economy. It is supporting the delivery of clean technology and climate resilience in various ways. Some examples are presented below:
South Africa: CIF’s Clean Technology Fund is supporting South Africa in diversifying its energy mix, in accordance with the country’s climate change strategy, and helping to overcome barriers to public and private investments in wind, solar, and energy efficiency. It has enabled the first-ever private-sector, utility-scale concentrated solar power plant in the developing world.
Mozambique: CIF’s Forest Investment Program (FIP) is empowering Mozambique to reduce deforestation and forest degradation by 40 percent by 2030. National interventions aim to promote sustainable rural development, while the private sector is being engaged to link communities to opportunities provided by the forest sector’s plantation investment.
Ghana: FIP supports projects that unite public and private sectors with Indigenous groups in restoring degraded forest landscapes, including promoting sustainable cocoa and agriculture practices, while securing the right of tenure for Indigenous peoples, among other policy reforms. Meanwhile, the Scaling up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries Program is helping to create an enabling environment for clean energy scale-ups — focusing on mini-grids and standalone solar photovoltaic systems.
The Climate Situation
This region is the most vulnerable to climate change on Earth. Rising temperatures and sea levels are contributory factors to the increased number of natural disasters. The recent history of extreme weather events includes Idai and Kenneth — two devastating cyclones occurring in successive months in 2019.
Warming in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to be higher than global averages, with many countries experiencing less rainfall. This will bring negative impacts to agricultural production — a major concern in the context of forecasted population growth rates. Food supply will be hard-pressed to meet demand. Significant droughts in the southern and eastern parts of the region have already threatened millions of lives.
The Benefits of Partnering with the Climate Investment Funds
CIF is a global leader in the delivery of climate finance for piloting and scaling cutting-edge climate solutions and innovations in low- and middle-income countries.
CIF’s investments have been helping countries to adapt to climate change and mitigate its impacts since 2008. Through a programmatic approach, CIF supports an inclusive and just climate-smart future — focusing on diverse partnerships that de-risk green markets and unlock additional investments and financing.
To date, 15 contributor countries have pledged over $10 billion to CIF. This is expected to mobilize an additional $62 billion in co-financing in 73 recipient countries.
CIF funding enables and scales up transformational climate action. This includes funding for policy and regulatory reforms and local capacity building to create an enabling environment for lasting change in partner countries. The funding specifically supports low- and middle-income countries to transition to clean energy, adapt and build resilience to climate change, protect, and manage nature, grow cities sustainably, and decarbonize industries.
Sub-Saharan Africa Projects
News Spotlight
Event Spotlight
Climate action and development are inextricably linked. This link has been confirmed by a new independent evaluation that assesses and analyzes how climate finance programs can lead to broader social, economic, environmental, and market development impacts.
May 03, 2023
09:00 AM - 10:30 AM EST
