Unlocking Private Capital for Adaptation Finance Roundtable

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF), will host a roundtable consultation on unlocking private institutional and commercial capital towards Africa’s adaptation and resilience financing gap in Nairobi, Kenya.  

Event description

While private sector participation in adaptation is difficult to track, statistics highlight that less than 3% of adaptation activities globally and in Africa are financed by the private sector. At the same time, research by the Global Resilience Partnership and Boston Consulting Group show that private investment in adaptation solutions can yield private returns of between 2-15x the investment. Further, they show that companies providing adaptation solutions earn median valuation multiples of nine times revenues. 
 
GCA and WEF are joining forces to create the Africa Business Adaptation Platform to drive business-led innovation and investment for climate adaptation in Africa. Supported by GCA’s flagship Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), launched in partnership with the African Development Bank, this platform will drive a solution-oriented engagement with the forward-thinking partners from a range of institutions, spanning across commercial investors, corporates, multilateral and philanthropic funders among others with active presence on the continent and interest in the adaptation finance. The platform will be complemented by the Adaptation & Resilience Leaders initiative to be launched by GCA and WEF at Davos 2025. 
 
This roundtable consultation in Nairobi is the first engagement under this platform aimed at driving a solutions-oriented dialogue on unlocking private capital for adaptation finance. The event will convene leaders representing a range of development finance practitioners, operators, donors, and private funders. Specific topics of discussion will include:  

• Emerging innovative financing models and instruments for private capital mobilization for adaptation finance.  
• Touchpoints for stronger coordination and alignment across the range of stakeholders;  
• The catalytic role GCA and other partners in dismantling harmful narrative and unlocking opportunity.  
• A clear ‘call to action’ from each stakeholder towards unlocking private adaptation finance at scale across the impact sectors.