Making climate finance work for Africa depends on African institutions solidifying their role in delivering climate investments and shaping funder reforms.
This was one of the strongest messages to emerge from the 2026 Adaptation Finance Academy (AFA) Forum, hosted by Sustainable Solutions for Africa (SSA) and the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) at the ECOVERSE campus in Zogbépimé, Togo this May.
The three-day AFA Forum 2026 brought together 48 climate finance practitioners and leaders from 33 institutions, including representatives from 26 African Direct Access Entities (DAEs), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Adaptation Fund.
In the face of an increasingly constrained environment for climate finance, participants explored what recent climate fund reforms mean for African institutions, and how they can ensure that direct access remains at the heart of future climate finance architecture.
Direct Access at a Crossroads
While Africa currently accounts for around 40% of both the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund portfolios, participants noted that a significant share of this resource continues to be channelled through international entities rather than African institutions.
As climate funds pursue reforms aimed at accelerating project approval and delivery, strengthening accountability for results, and mobilising finance at scale through more diversified instruments, the AFA Forum identified both opportunities and challenges for African DAEs.
A growing emphasis on country investment platforms, expanded access pathways and locally led action is promising for African DAEs. But capitalizing on these opportunities depends on DAEs being ready to meet programming technical and financial structuring requirements, as well as stronger performance and accountability expectations.
This brings the risk of a widening gap between institutions that are ready to respond, and those still building foundational systems and expertise.
Practical Lessons and Solutions from the Front Lines
The AFA Forum provided a rare opportunity for African DAEs to exchange peer-to-peer practical lessons from climate finance implementation in the field.
Representatives from national and regional banks, funds and institutions shared their experience in implementing green banking facilities, green bonds, guarantee facilities and other instruments with concessional climate funding from GCF, Adaptation Fund and other partners.
One lesson emerged consistently: delivering climate finance is not just about capital.
Well-designed climate finance instruments only deliver impact when they address real transaction barriers, by pairing capital with technical assistance, institutional readiness and the flexibility to respond to changing implementation realities.
Participants repeatedly highlighted institutional capacity as a defining success factor: in the form of dedicated climate finance teams, sustained project development capacity, integrating climate into corporate strategy, and functional procurement, implementation and monitoring systems. They also highlighted how foreign exchange risk and rigid structuring could rapidly undermine concessionality and the viability of implementing climate investments once delivery starts.
The Adaptation Finance Academy (AFA) and Adaptation Project Incubator for Africa (APIA) were presented as pillars of an African-led response to these challenges.
APIA and AFA aim to strengthen both sides of the equation: helping African institutions develop stronger climate finance pipelines while building the long-term technical and institutional capacity to manage and deliver climate investments at scale.
From Access to Influence
Beyond institutional and pipeline strengthening, participants also stressed the need for African DAEs to become more active in shaping the future of climate finance itself.
With major decisions on both the GCF and Adaptation Fund's future programming strategies currently under discussion, participants emphasised that this is a critical window for African institutions to influence the terms that will govern climate finance for years to come.
There was a unified call for African DAEs to bring a “collective voice” to shaping fund reforms, including programming strategies and accreditation, accountability and fee policy reforms.
This included discussion of an Africa Alliance of DAEs that could help consolidate African perspectives on major reform processes and strengthen engagement with climate funds.
Participants highlighted priorities including stronger support for direct access, ensuring policy requirements were appropriately scaled to project size and sophistication, and securing continued grant-based financing for adaptation in vulnerable countries.
A Platform for African Leadership
SSA hosted the AFA Forum 2026 at ECOVERSE village in Zogbépimé, which will soon become the permanent home of the Adaptation Finance Academy.
More than a venue, the ECOVERSE climate-resilient village provided a practical demonstration of a space where climate ambition, finance and implementation intersect to deliver tangible benefits for African communities.
Through its role in implementing initiatives like AFA, APIA and ECOVERSE, SSA and AAI are working to facilitate African-led solutions to building stronger institutions, stronger partnerships and scaled climate investments.
At this pivotal moment for African institutions, the AFA Forum 2026 forum closed with a clear consensus: success will ultimately be measured by what participating institutions can translate into concrete action between now and AFA Forum 2027.
The full meeting report can be downloaded here: [insert link].
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