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Beyond Shock, Money or Mandate: Why African Banks Aren’t Taking Bold Climate Action — And What it Will Take to Move Forward
Africa is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Yet though climate finance has emerged as a growing solution, African banks have yet to truly ramp up their climate lending. As Carla Legros and Anthony Mbithi argue, one reason for this lack of urgency is that the financial case for this lending has rarely been framed in ways that resonate with how banks operate — namely, as a clear money-making opportunity in the near to medium term. They share a framework for understanding financial institutions' level of engagement in climate finance, providing funders and policymakers with a tool they can use to match their interventions to banks’ institutional reality. Compounding this, Commercial lenders have been the focus of extensive appeals and warnings, from across the development sector and in broader media coverage, about the moral or planetary imperative of boosting climate finance — but these attempts at persuasion have not yet proven to be an effective driver of institutional behavior. Without a clear story about where the profit will come from and how soon, climate remains a peripheral concern rather than a portfolio opportunity for these institutions.
- Categories
- Environment, Finance, Investing
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Aligning Capital with Justice: How Innovative Finance Can Enable the Final Stretch Toward Energy Access in Africa
The world has made unprecedented progress toward universal energy access, and today over 90% of the global population has electricity. But as Roeland Menger at Nithio explains, the remaining 10% live in rural and low-income communities — primarily in Africa — that typical business and funding models can't reach. He argues that the exclusion of these markets is not only ineffective but unjust, and highlights several innovative investment approaches that are expanding decentralized energy to the last mile.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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A New Green Revolution in Indian Agriculture: How Satellite Remote Sensing is Quietly Transforming the Sector
Satellite remote sensing involves the use of satellite-based sensors to capture data about the earth’s surface. According to Sat Kumar Tomer at Satyukt Analytics, this technology is increasingly being used by Indian farmers and the businesses and organizations that serve them, generating data on vegetation health, soil moisture, irrigation patterns and other key drivers of agricultural productivity. He explores how satellite remote sensing is enabling a data-driven revolution in Indian agriculture, and how the sector can overcome barriers to wider adoption.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance, Technology
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A Field-Based Perspective on Sub-Saharan Africa’s Agriculture Crisis: Exploring the Four Critical Dimensions that are Driving Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is no longer just a humanitarian concern in sub-Saharan Africa: It is a business issue. According to Asamoah Oppong Zadok, a researcher and entrepreneur specializing in sustainable agriculture, it constitutes a fundamental business risk with far-reaching implications for the region's economic growth, supply chain stability and geopolitical resilience. He explores the multifaceted structural factors that are driving Africa's agriculture and food security crisis, exploring how business innovators, funders and policymakers can respond.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Technology
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The Circular Solar Opportunity in Africa: How Refurbishing Solar Systems Can Reduce E-Waste and Expand Energy Access
While working in the bustling solar energy scene in Ethiopia, Zelalem Nigatu at Inter Ethiopia Solutions noticed a disheartening trend: Mountains of solar home systems were being discarded due to minor issues that could have been fixed by trained technicians with access to spare parts and the proper tools. He explores how Inter Ethiopia Solutions is tackling this challenge through a systematic approach to refurbishing solar home systems and repurposing lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to offer affordable off-grid energy solutions while reducing e-waste.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Women, Wealth and Climate Resilience: The Transformative Power of Asset Creation in Africa
Climate vulnerability is a key factor behind the challenges facing women and girls in Africa. Yet as Jo Opot at Gather Ventures explains, the impact of investments aimed at building their climate resilience often fades too quickly, as poverty and tradition pull them back into household and caregiving duties. She argues that this problem represents a failure to address underlying power dynamics, and proposes a critical yet often overlooked solution — asset creation — exploring how it can advance both climate resilience and the quality of life for women and girls.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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A Global Effort to Unleash Local Data: How Open Mapping is Shaping Grassroots Climate Resilience Worldwide
As climate change intensifies, heatwaves, storms, wildfires and flash floods are increasing in scale and frequency worldwide. Yet as Atiya Anis at Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team explains, many of the areas that are most vulnerable to climate impacts lack representation on existing maps, leaving communities and decision-makers without reliable data to address these crises. She explores how open mapping offers a solution to this issue by leveraging community-generated data to create accessible and reliable maps of vulnerable areas to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
- Tags
- climate change, data, NGOs
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Four Key Lessons for Implementing PAYGo 2.0: How the PAYGo Solar Sector Can Fulfill its Potential
In response to the recent NextBillion article by Dan Murphy and Willem Nolens at PAYGo Lab, on how companies and investors can move PAYGo solar toward "PAYGo 2.0,” Yariv Cohen at Ignite Energy Access argues that it's time for deep reflection and realignment in the industry. He explains why PAYGo 2.0 — an approach aimed at boosting repayment rates and profitability through improved customer selection and support — is the only way forward for the sector, and shares four lessons Ignite has learned from its efforts to implement this model.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing
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