Africa gets $29.5bn annually in climate financing, but needs $277bn – Osinbajo

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s vice president, says the African continent receives $29.5 billion in climate finance annually as against the $277 billion it needs for climate financing.

Osinbajo stated this during the unveiling of the 4D Digital Green Industrial Corridor and the launch of the African Union Transition Fuels Oversight and Regulatory Management Accelerator (TRANSFORMA) on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.

TRANSFORMA is a 4D initiative to fast-track the Digital Green Industrial Corridor among the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) member states.

“TRANSFORMA is indeed a welcome development, and we recognize the value that the transcontinental policy and implementation vehicle offers in mobilizing larger investments, improving shared learning, and producing larger economies of scale for individual nations like Nigeria and also for the entire continent,” Osinbajo said.

“Reports from the World Bank estimate that the AfCFTA could raise income on the continent by over $450 billion by 2035 and lift 50 million people out of extreme poverty. Importantly, the continent could see foreign direct investment increase by between 111% and 159% under the AfCFTA.

“Joint advocacy on principles for a just transition is getting stronger, our home-grown solutions must do the same. Our case as a continent, particularly with respect to the just ‘energy transition’ is cogent and irrefutable. We cannot accept a global energy transition that leaves millions of our people in the dark, exposed to harmful pollutants due to unclean cooking, or poor and unemployed because of limited industrial activity.”