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On-demand: Structuring for scale: How blended finance can unlock bankable green projects in Africa

Watch here:  https://streamyard.com/watch/QkP4rqV2eevF 

Hosted by:  Africa’s Green Economy Summit (Vuka Group) and Convergence 

Africa faces a major investment gap that impedes progress towards its climate ambitions and SDG targets. Most countries are fiscally strained, and public resources alone are insufficient to deliver the scale of projects required across clean energy, sustainable agriculture, and nature-based solutions. In this context, blended finance, defined as the strategic use of catalytic concessional capital (from public or philanthropic sources) alongside private sector investment, has emerged as an essential financial structuring approach. According to Convergence, blended finance has mobilised upwards of USD 90 billion in Africa, of which the majority has been channelled into energy and infrastructure project transactions. 

Yet, while there is strong interest, significant hurdles remain in structuring deals that are both attractive to private investors and aligned with sustainable outcomes in Africa. Despite improving deal flow, much of the investment remains in a narrow range of markets, and the replication of scalable models is still limited.  

This webinar will focus on why blended finance is required to finance green projects in Africa, and how to structure such deals in a way that mobilises scale private capital, drawing on real-world transactions and de-risking strategies. 

Key Themes / Discussion Points 

• What are the typical risks that deter private investors in African green projects, and how can blended finance mitigate those? 

• What role do concessional funds (grants, first-loss, guarantees) play in improving the risk-return profile of green transactions for project investors? 

• How important are factors such as domestic currency risk, policy/regulatory stability, local partner capacity, and transparent data/impact metrics in improving the efficiency of project delivery? 

• What lessons from existing models (for example, the Development Bank of Southern Africa Climate Finance Facility and InfraCredit Nigeria) can be distilled for replication? 

• How can stakeholders design vehicles that are replicable and scalable (moving beyond one-off bespoke deals)?  

Expected Outcomes 

• Understand how blended finance works to de-risk and attract private capital into Africa’s green economy. 

• Identify key risks that deter investors in green infrastructure and explore practical strategies to mitigate them. 

• Learn how concessional finance tools (grants, first-loss capital, guarantees) improve project bankability and investor confidence. 

• Examine enabling conditions such as currency stability, regulatory clarity, credible data, and local partner capacity that make green projects viable. 

• Draw lessons from proven models like the DBSA Climate Finance Facility and InfraCredit Nigeria that demonstrate scalable, replicable solutions. 

• Gain insights on designing investment vehicles that move beyond one-off transactions toward portfolios that can attract long-term institutional investment. 

https://streamyard.com/watch/QkP4rqV2eevF