At the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and development partners urged a significant scale-up in financing to meet the 2030 targets of Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative.
Launched by the African Union, the Great Green Wall aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon, and create 10 million jobs across 11 Sahel countries, stretching from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east.
Despite contributions from member states and international partners, including the AfDB and the World Bank, officials say financing gaps remain a major challenge. In January 2021, €19 billion was pledged at a Paris roundtable alongside the One Planet Summit, with the AfDB committing approximately $6.5 billion through its ongoing programs.
At COP30, Ibrahim Sow, special advisor to the Senegalese president on environmental issues, moderated a session on scaling up finance for the Great Green Wall. The session, organized by the Pan-African Agency for the Great Green Wall, the AfDB, and the World Food Programme, focused on strategies to mobilize large-scale financing, including private and innovative funding sources.
Speakers highlighted that while millions of hectares have already been restored and thousands of green jobs created, more collaboration between African governments, development partners, and the private sector is needed to close the financing gap by 2030.
Sékou Koné, technical advisor to the Malian Ministry of the Environment, emphasized that strong political will, legal frameworks, and an attractive economic environment are key to attracting private investment. He pointed to the recently launched Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) as an example of new funding opportunities through South-South cooperation.
The AfDB reaffirmed its commitment to the initiative, encouraging the development of bankable projects in land restoration and climate change adaptation. Al-Hamndou Dorsouma, AfDB’s manager for Climate and Green Growth, highlighted innovative financing mechanisms, including blended finance, carbon markets, green bonds, and climate funds, as critical to bridging the initiative’s funding gap.
The session also stressed the importance of strengthening local institutions, human resources, and community involvement to ensure that countries and communities can access climate finance directly.
With enhanced coordination and funding, the Great Green Wall initiative aims to accelerate its restoration targets, creating sustainable environmental and economic benefits across the Sahel region.
