Unlocking Climate Finance in Africa: Breaking Down the Barriers

Those were the words of Cheikh Mbow, Director of Senegal’s Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), when he held the opening remark at a climate finance workshop NORCAP organised with the help of CSE in Dakar this October. Mbow underscored the urgent need for accessible climate funding to support African communities and nations. 

NORCAP, together with partner organisations has been driving work to secure climate finance for national institutions across Africa since 2015. Since 2019, CSE has been a key partner in this work.

The workshop was an effort to take the access to finance work further by bringing together key stakeholders from governments, meteorological offices, UN Climate Change funding bodies (UNFCCC), and the financial sector in Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone to tackle the critical barriers preventing these nations from accessing vital climate adaptation funds. 

Africa is at the forefront of the climate crisis—action is needed now. 

Securing such access is more critical than ever. As Hilde Jørgensen, NORCAP`s Head of Climate, addressed in her speech, the need for financial investment is immense and acute. 

"Increasingly warmer temperatures, sea level rise, floods, droughts have a devestating impact of the African continent," she said, and highlighted the need for urgent and scalable solutions.  

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) reports that Africa needs a staggering USD 250 billion annually from 2020 to 2030 to tackle climate adaptation. Yet, despite being one of the most climate-vulnerable regions, Africa is facing unprecedented extremes—2023 was one of the hottest years on record, with temperatures soaring 0.61°C above the 1991–2020 average.  

Building Capacity for a Sustainable Future 

The workshop in Dakar was a central part of NORCAP’s strategy to unlock the financial resources needed for necessary local climate adaptation. Lack of local technical and institutional capacity stands out as a main obstacle for these countries in their effort to access necessary funding.  

More specifically, the workshop identified these common challenges for the participating countries: 

• Cumbersome, time-intensive application and accreditation processes for major funding bodies like the Green Climate Fund.  

• Limited institutional and technical capacity at a national level to complete the application processes and develop bankable project proposals.  

• A lack of essential climate data needed to design effective projects and track ongoing climate impacts. 

• The heavy financial burden of climate loans, which make up up to 70% of climate funding and add to the already crushing debt load in many African countries.  

Moving Forward: Strengthening Capacity and Scaling Solutions 

To tackle these challenges, NORCAP provides technical support that strengthens the systems and skills of national institutions and closes the gaps preventing access to climate finance. 

We have already taken crucial steps in Niger, where NORCAP has supported Niger in getting a readiness and preparatory grant from the Green Climate Fund.

Building on this success, NORCAP is now working with local governments and meteorological offices to expand its support to countries such as Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Senegal—countries that are vital to scaling effective climate adaptation solutions across Africa.