Background
Africa faces acute climate vulnerabilities yet holds immense potential for green growth. The continent stands at a critical juncture in sustainable development, endowed with vast renewable energy potential, rich natural capital, and a youthful, innovative workforce. The continent could leapfrog to low-emission, climate-resilient development while realizing its adaptation and mitigation goals to the rising impacts of climate change. One of the main barriers to this is the access to climate finance, where the continent only receives between 3-4% of the global climate finance. This course addresses this major gap by equipping African Policymakers, experts, practitioners and leaders with the expertise to develop bankable projects with a strong climate rationale, scalable climate solutions, innovative business case to unlock climate finance ensuring the continent harnesses its potential as a global leader in green growth.
Mission
To empower African Policymakers, experts, practitioners and leaders with expertise, knowledge and tools to mobilize climate finance, design innovative business solutions, and accelerate climate action on the continent.
Target Groups
This programme is designed for a wide range of professionals and stakeholders:
- Policymakers and government officials
- Private sector investors-Entrepreneurs and SMEs
- CSOs, NGO and development practitioners
- Students interested in climate proposal development
Aim
To develop a cadre of professionals adept at securing, managing, and deploying climate finance while fostering scalable and sustainable climate adaptation actions through business innovations for Africa’s low emission climate resilient development.
Goals
- Enhance understanding of global and regional climate finance mechanisms (private and public)
- Foster skills in designing bankable green projects and impact-driven ventures
- Strengthen public-private partnerships for climate-resilient investments in Africa
Learning Objectives
By the end of the programme, learners will be able to:
- Describe the global climate finance architecture, funding mechanisms and instruments.
- Design catalytic climate projects, including all the major components of climate change projects.
- Construct business models that support climate mitigation and adaptation objectives.
- Apply risk assessment and investment strategies for renewable energy and nature-based solutions.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Ability to structure competitive proposals to unlock international climate funds such as GCF, AF, Regional (AfDB), and crowd-in private sector funding for locally led climate action.
- Strategize to align project interventions with national climate policy commitments.
Content
The content of the programme will be structured around these seven units:
Unit 1: Overview of Climate Systems and Risk Assessment
Unit 2: Climate Finance Landscape
Unit 3: Climate Rationale Development
Unit 4: Project Design and Theory of Change
Unit 5: Enabling Policy Environment
Unit 6: Planning and Budget Development
Unit 7: Project Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Unit 8: Individual/Group Project