Unlocking Debt Financing for Climate Adaptation & Resilience in Africa

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are convening a roundtable consultation to explore opportunities for unlocking private and listed debt capital to bridge Africa’s adaptation and resilience (A&R) financing gap. 

Event description

OBJECTIVE 
The roundtable aims to facilitate a constructive, solution-oriented dialogue among key financial stakeholders to identify pathways for mobilizing private debt towards climate adaptation. The session will bring together ~15 senior stakeholders representing donors, banks, guarantee providers, institutional investors, multilateral organizations, project developers, and operators to: 

• Explore emerging innovative models and financial instruments within private and listed debt markets for A&R financing. 
• Identify synergies and new collaboration opportunities among stakeholders. 
• Define roles that GCA can play to accelerate private sector financing for adaptation at scale across multiple impact sectors. 

CONTEXT 
Sub-Saharan Africa faces a substantial adaptation and resilience financing gap, requiring an estimated $579 billion through 2030—translating to an annual need of approximately $48.25 billion. However, current adaptation finance flows to Africa amount to only $11.4 billion annually. Research by the Global Resilience Partnership and Boston Consulting Group underscores the potential for private sector engagement in adaptation, indicating that investments in adaptation solutions can yield private returns of 2 to 15 times the initial investment.  
 
Despite this potential, private debt remains an underutilized financing tool for adaptation. Currently, private debt accounts for only 7% of total funding raised in Africa. If this share were doubled to 14%, it could generate an additional $3.38 billion annually for adaptation and resilience efforts. More broadly, private sector engagement in adaptation remains limited, with less than 3% of adaptation activities globally and in Africa financed by private capital. 
 
AFRICA BUSINESS ADAPTATION PLATFORM 
GCA and WEF are collaborating to establish the Africa Business Adaptation Platform, an initiative aimed at mobilizing business-led innovation and investment for climate adaptation in Africa. This platform is supported by GCA’s Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), launched in partnership with the African Development Bank, and is designed to: 

• Facilitate structured engagements with commercial investors, corporates, multilateral institutions, and philanthropic funders active in Africa’s adaptation finance space. 
• Serve as a catalyst for scaling innovative financing mechanisms and business models. 
• Complement existing efforts such as the  Adaptation & Resilience Leaders Initiative, launched by GCA and WEF at Davos 2025. 

Through this initiative, GCA and WEF seek to drive a business-focused approach to adaptation financing, ensuring that Africa’s resilience agenda attracts sustainable and scalable investment from the private sector.