Africa Climate Summit Puts Financing and Resilience Under the Spotlight

The second Africa Climate Summit opened in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday, with the continent determined to position itself not only as a frontline victim of global warming but also as a source of solutions and innovation.

From 8 to 10 September, 45 heads of state and government, alongside more than 25,000 campaigners, business leaders and institutional representatives, are gathering at the African Union’s international conference centre in Addis Ababa.

The meeting is seen as a vital moment for Africa to set its priorities ahead of major international milestones later this year – including the UN General Assembly, the G20, and the upcoming Cop 30 climate negotiations in Brazil.

Climate change is already hitting Africa hard. The World Meteorological Organization estimates that the crisis costs African economies between 2 and 5 percent of GDP annually.

By 2030, as many as 118 million of the continent’s poorest people could face severe droughts, flooding, and extreme heat.

Yet leaders and thinkers are keen to underline that Africa is not simply a victim. The continent holds 60 percent of the world’s solar potential and nearly 40 percent of global renewable energy resources. Its soils are rich in critical minerals essential for the green transition.

“Africa could benefit enormously and even become a global leader in the transition,” argues Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of the Moroccan think tank, the IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, speaking to RFI. “But Africa cannot remain passive. It must act in a coordinated way – and that is one of the goals here in Addis Ababa.”

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A fairer financial system

Despite this promise, Africa currently attracts only 2 percent of international green investment. High interest rates and the crushing burden of debt remain major barriers.

For Vernoit, this summit offers a chance to demand change, telling RFI: “Africa will continue to press for reform of the international financial architecture. This meeting is a moment to call for a fairer, more equitable system that supports the continent’s climate action efforts.”

African leaders are expected to conclude the summit with a joint declaration, signalling unity and ambition to investors and the international community.

At the first Africa Climate Summit in 2023, leaders committed to scaling up renewable energy capacity from 56 to 300 gigawatts by 2030, and pledges of more than $23 billion in renewable energy investments were announced.

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Challenge of resilient infrastructure

But climate change is also eroding progress. A new report from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), released during the summit, highlights the costs of climate damage to African infrastructure – estimated at nearly $13 billion each year.

“Most of these losses come from damage to housing, municipal facilities, schools and hospitals, with flooding accounting for 70 percent of the destruction,” Ramesh Subramaniam, CDRI’s director, explained to RFI. Earthquakes account for a further 28 percent.

The solution, he argues, is not to prevent disasters – which is impossible – but to build smarter and stronger. “If a road is built to the right quality standards, it will resist when disaster strikes. The embankments, the protections – all of it will remain in place,” he says.

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