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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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Temasek Foundation and UNICEF Venture Announce Partnership
Catalyzing a new generation of frontier tech femtech solutions improving health and wellbeing for girls and women in Southeast Asia.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Cambodia’s ATEC Raises $15.5 Million in Funding Round Co-Led by Lightrock and TRIREC
The rollout will focus on Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malawi, and Nepal, entrenching ATEC’s presence in Asia and Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Katapult and OCTAVE Capital launch $75 Million Asian Ocean Fund
The fund aims to help close the SDG 14 funding gap in Asia by investing into early-stage and growth companies in sectors such as maritime decarbonisation and sustainable aquaculture.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mohinani Group Partners with Norfund to Advance rPET Recycling Projects in Ghana and Nigeria
The partnership aims to accelerate investment into the recycling and processing of post-consumer PET plastics, bolstering local recycling capacity while reducing environmental waste and dependence on virgin plastic.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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KawiSafi Announces $90 Million in Approved Capital to Accelerate Climate Solutions Across Africa
With backing from the African Development Bank, the Green Climate Fund, the Schmidt Family Foundation, and the Quadrature Climate Foundation, Acumen’s second KawiSafi fund marks the next chapter for the climate-resilient growth platform developed by Acumen.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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MOPO Secures £5 Million Investment From Norfund to Expand Clean Energy Access Across Africa
MOPO operates a pay-per-use battery rental system that delivers clean and dependable energy to households and businesses through solar charging hubs managed by local agents.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Moonshot’ Education Finance Facility Aims to Turn $1 Into $7 in LMICs
The International Finance Facility for Education is finally up and running — and it’s “a smart aid approach,” according to its first CEO, Karthik Krishnan.
- Region
- Global
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