As the spectre of a possible “super El Niño” looms, Africa cannot rely on externally designed climate solutions to manage worsening climate risks, the African Climate Foundation has said, as it launched a new five-year strategy focused on clean energy access, resilience, green industrialisation and stronger African influence in global climate finance.
Speaking at the launch of the Foundation’s 2026-30 strategy, Saliem Fekir, executive director of the foundation said ACF’s role will be to provide logistical support “to ensure that those driving this transition from within Africa have the institutions, capabilities and investment platforms they need”.
The foundation said its 2026-30 strategy is based on six years of work across the continent and on the understanding that climate action and development are “inextricably linked”. For African countries, the challenge is no longer only about securing commitments, but about building the systems, institutions and partnerships needed to turn ambition into progress, the foundation said. ACF said climate commitments have multiplied, but implementation is still lagging.
“Each year of delay raises the costs, and the consequences of inaction will be borne most heavily by those least responsible for the crisis,” said Fekir. “This is particularly concerning when considering the possibility of a ‘super El Niño’ later this year and the major impact it will have on the continent.”
The foundation’s comments come against the backdrop of Africa’s small share of global greenhouse gas emissions and its disproportionate exposure to climate impacts. Africa receives only 3 per cent of global climate finance, according to the foundation.
For African countries, climate action is not only about mobilising finance, but also about building “resilience to economic and climate shocks, food and energy security and protecting long-term competitiveness,” ACF said.
The foundation’s 2026-30 strategy is centred on three core priorities. The first is expanding reliable, affordable and clean energy access. The second is building climate resilience and adaptive capacity across livelihoods, agriculture and ecosystems.
The third is advancing green industrialisation and regional integration. ACF said these priorities reflect the need to connect climate action with wider development goals across the continent.
The strategy also identifies two “cross-cutting enablers”: unlocking sustainable finance and strengthening African agency in global climate, finance and trade governance.
While the strategy doesn’t delve into how the two pointers act as enablers for the core priorities, without the two enablers, “sustainable finance and international partnerships run through every priority. They are not separate workstreams but the connective tissue that enables the core priorities to reach scale, attract investment and endure beyond individual funding cycles. Addressing all five together – rather than in isolation – is what makes system-level impact possible,” AFC observed.