In 2023, only 3% of adaptation finance in Africa came from private sources. Both public and private finance must grow — but given Africa’s MSME-driven economies, scaling private capital is especially critical. Done right, private capital further unlocks investment opportunities and prevents severe financial, social, and developmental losses that would inevitably affect financial institutions and their clients.

Under the adaptation finance pillar of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) — a joint initiative between the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) — GCA began engaging private sector financial institutions to de-risk lending portfolios, build institutional capacity, and identify market-ready adaptation investment opportunities aligned with national and sectoral resilience priorities.

In this context, GCA launched two key partnerships: one with AfDB and the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB), and a second directly with CRDB Bank Plc in Tanzania. Additionally, in 2025, GCA started collaborations with other domestic banks in Africa, including the National Bank of Commerce Limited (NBC) in Tanzania, and Fidelity Bank Ghana. Across these collaborations, GCA is working with the banks and gaining insights on how to support mainstreaming adaptation finance and de-risking their lending portfolios against climate change.

Unlocking adaptation finance requires going beyond Climate Risk Assessments to build an enabling internal environment. This brief presents early insights from that technical assistance, highlighting four enabling factors:

A. Strategic alignment on the objective of Climate Risk Assessments
B. Shared adaptation and resilience solution taxonomy
C. Client-centered financial product development
D. Intentionality to address existing data gaps

This brief is intended for: 
Sustainability leaders in African banks, to understand the enabling factors of integrating a climate adaptation lens into lending practices; 
Technical assistance providers, to identify entry points and guide the design of support to African banks.