Vlinder (it means butterfly in Dutch) was one of nearly 60 investment-ready start-ups, projects and some multi-million dollar infrastructure developments (totalling $7.2 billion) looking for financial backing at the Investment Pitches at Africa’s Green Economy Summit (AGES) that took place in Cape Town in February. The event connected high-impact projects with global investors, offering a dynamic platform to engage and foster real-world investment in Africa’s green economy.

Pricing nature

Bartmann was also part of the AGES Carbon Markets Masterclass, sharing key experience and insight into what it takes to successfully run a carbon credit project. “I was excited about the opportunity of pricing nature,” he explained, “83% of global carbon is in the ocean, and mangrove eco-systems remove carbon from the atmosphere at a rate 10 times greater and sequester 3–5 times more carbon than other forests.”

The third edition of AGES had high-level institutional and private sector support, including, among others, Sanlam Investments, the African Union, SA Tourism, African Development Bank, DBSA, Standard Bank, Gauteng Department of Economic Development, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the UNDP. The theme for this year’s event was Building a Climate Resilient Africa: Catalysing Investment and Innovation in the Green and Blue Economies.

Where is the private sector?

Common themes during AGES were discussions about derisking not only Africa as an investment destination but also climate finance for the continent, particularly for a sceptical and careful private sector.

During the opening keynote session, Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director of the Climate Policy Initiative noted that current climate finance covered less than a quarter of what is needed on the continent due to high perceived risk and a lack of bankable projects, adding that only 18% of the money comes from the private sector.

“Africa presents unprecedented opportunities. It is not all doom and gloom,” said Anthony Nyong, Director Climate Change and Green Growth Department at the African Development Bank. He reiterated the need for climate finance and investment to be enhanced, stating: “Africa receives less than 4% of global climate finance. We want to move Africa to a double digit recipient.”

However, on a more hopeful note, during the keynote on the following day, finance giant Sanlam Investments’ CEO Carl Roothman reminded attendees that the current economic climate, which sees so many governments and businesses focus on climate change and green finance, presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Africa. The company is active in 27 countries on the continent.

“I don’t think you will see in another 150 years the opportunity for access to the global capital and enthusiasm from the rest of the world, to invest in Africa” said Roothman. This enthusiasm, though, does create a responsibility for everyone in Africa, he admonished.

Maxwell Gomera, Resident Representative of UNDP South Africa and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub delivered a heartfelt plea with poignant examples of the need to address inequality in the economic transition “because an economy that only works for the few is not an economy.”

Cape Town’s mayor: Crucial digitisation

The future prosperity of Cape Town and other cities across Africa has to be predicated on a commitment to continue to invest in the green economy and technology in order to drive job opportunities, resilience and sustainability.

This mantra underpins the City of Cape Town’s long-term vision for the city’s success and was highlighted by Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis during his keynote address on Thursday.

He said that AGES, which had its third edition this year, had become an important feature of Cape Town’s event schedule.

WomenIN Green Economy

“The transition to a green economy is not merely an environmental necessity, but an economic imperative,” said Pinky Kekana, South Africa’s Deputy Minister for Public, Service and Administration at the WomenIN Coffee Connect, kicking off AGES Day 2. The session focused on the pivotal role women play in driving green reforms across sectors, particularly in policy and regulatory frameworks.

The deputy minister added: “We must create an enabling environment in which women can thrive as innovators, investors and decision-makers in the green economy. For transformation to be truly effective, it must be inclusive. Thanks to WomenIN we are able to continue to engage, from Cape to Cairo.”

Sustainable agri case studies

AGES also featured fascinating examples of successful, nature-based sustainable agricultural solutions, including a presentation by Angus McIntosh, better known as Farmer Angus, a regenerative carbon farmer near Cape Town and one of the first South African farmers to sell carbon credits from his farm.

The owners of Chicoa Fish Farm in Lake Cahora Bassa in Mozambique also explained how they have not only built a business but a food system. Chicoa grows the tilapia fish at a net zero carbon emission and at scale. In pure feed-to-protein conversion, tilapia is more efficient than chicken, and vastly more efficient than other proteins such as pork or beef. The carbon footprint comparison looks even better.

We need to do things differently

“Nothing compares to the private sector or a market-led approach to climate mitigation,” said Olufunso Somorin, Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in a session on leveraging carbon credits. “However, Africa is still not maximising its potential. We need to do things differently. One of the challenges is that there are many good project developers who have very good ideas, but they don’t have the resources to jumpstart their idea into an investable project.” He reminded the audience that only 17 project developers are largely responsible for most of the carbon projects on the continent.

Mixed feelings: data lacking

During question time in a panel discussion on “What is new and what’s next in climate finance?” former World Bank sustainability guru Dr John Roome challenged the experts on what he had heard thus far: “I have very mixed feelings. Will this radically change getting the private sector into climate finance? Is this the best we can do?” He asked the panel to name the one thing that they think might make the difference. The panel agreed that the lack of big data in the African climate space was a major gap.

“Very little is invested in data, and countries are unable to account for what they have,” said Shingirirai Savious Mutanga, CSIR research group leader, adding: “for me the answer is data. Then we will have the evidence that we need and won’t struggle to build a pipeline.”

Bianca Gichangi, Regional Lead – Africa at Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI) concurred: “Big data has enabled us to make great strides. We need to prioritise it in the $1.3 trillion that is needed.”