Some climate finance experts say that Nigeria and other African countries can attract trillions of naira from the climate finance market with the proper structure and right policies.

The experts spoke in separate interviews on Thursday in Lagos.

Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.

PUTRRU CEO Monica Maduekwe said the right policies and strategies could bring more climate finance to Nigeria and other African nations.

Ms Maduekwe said Nigeria and other African countries lacked climate finance due to poor policies.

She stated, “As the world grapples with the urgency of climate action, the spotlight is once again on global efforts to finance renewable energy projects, particularly in developing nations like Nigeria.

“At the last COP28, experts and stakeholders gathered to address the growing disparity between the pledged size of climate financing and the actual inflows for countries facing the impacts of climate change, such as Nigeria.”

She added that the global renewable energy sector had attracted approximately 3 trillion dollars in investments over the last two decades.

Ms Maduekwe said that Africa received a mere two per cent, as cited by the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina.

“One of the key challenges identified at the macro level is the scarcity of capital because, in the global landscape, capital tends to flow to certain regions, favouring Latin America and Southeast Asia, while Africa lags behind.

“A successful project development requires a thorough study of investment opportunities, risk identification and mitigation, clear partnerships (both public and private), and a well-defined financial structure,” she said.

On her part, Amie Alex-Irobi of the National Action Committee on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (NAC-AfCFTA) said Nigeria’s industrialisation would need huge capital and hoped that climate finance would be attracted into the economic sectors to realise the objectives of Nigeria in the AfCFTA.

Ms Alex-Irobi said NAC-AfCFTA’s mission to bolster economic sectors in Nigeria, particularly in ensuring available, reliable, and affordable energy, aligned with the strategy of PUTTRU in trade and investment facilitation.

(NAN)