Financing Nature to Catalyze Green & Prosperous African Cities

Strategic Insights -

As cities across the African continent grow at unprecedented rates, they face mounting climate risks and grapple with aging infrastructure, significantly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. In an effort to highlight the urgent need to bring nature into the heart of Africa's urban planning and development agenda, a dynamic roundtable was held during the African Development Bank Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The event, co-hosted by the African Development Bank, World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa, and the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), made a compelling case for scaling up nature-based solutions and green-grey infrastructure in African cities.

Key Takeaways:

  • The African continent's population is projected to grow by 900 million by 2050, with 700 million of that growth occurring in cities, according to Africa's Urbanisation Dynamics 2025.
  • Two out of three Africans will live in cities by 2050, making sustainable urban planning a critical issue.
  • The "Growing resilience" report identifies what works, key barriers, and strategies to scale up green, resilient development, analyzing nearly 300 projects over the past decade.
  • A heavy reliance on grants--used in 84% of projects--was found, while loans, accounting for over 70% of total funding, were used in just 32% of projects.
  • Expanding the use of blended finance and innovative instruments will be critical for scaling up nature-based solutions.
  • Multilateral Development Banks accounted for over 70% of investment in nature-based solutions projects in Africa over the recent years.
  • The African Development Bank will continue scaling up nature-based solutions support beyond traditional gray infrastructure finance through adopting a Green-Gray Infrastructure approach.
  • Community leadership and responsiveness to community needs are crucial for effective nature-based solutions projects.
  • Examples of successful nature-based solutions implementations include the Great Green Wall initiative, which aims to restore degraded land and boost resilience across the Sahel.

Statistics:

  • 900 million: The projected increase in Africa's population by 2050.
  • 700 million: The portion of that growth that will occur in cities.
  • 84%: The percentage of projects that relied on grants, according to the "Growing resilience" report.
  • 32%: The percentage of projects that used loans, despite accounting for over 70% of total funding.
  • 70%: The share of investment in nature-based solutions projects accounted for by Multilateral Development Banks over the recent years.
  • 11,000: The number of urban centres across all 54 African nations covered in Africa's Urbanisation Dynamics 2025.

Sources:

  • Africa's Urbanisation Dynamics 2025--from the African Development Bank, OECD and Cities Alliance.
  • Growing Resilience: Unlocking the Potential of Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa, a collaboration between the World Bank, WRI and the African Development Bank.
  • The African Development Bank Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
  • World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa.
  • The World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).