Protect, restore and invest in Africa’s natural assets

Image: Freepik

“Let’s stop being poets talking about bringing climate finance to the continent. Let’s be plumbers and do the work.” – Matsi Modise, World Climate Foundation, AGES2026

“AGES, we will be judged by the lives we change and green jobs that the youth can benefit from. We are here to share global solutions, not seek charity.” With these words Harsen Nyambe Nyambe, Director of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy at the African Union Commission in Ethiopia welcomed the audience at the opening session of the fourth edition of Africa’s Green Economy Summit in Cape Town last week. The African Union is the official host organisation of the event.

SAF project
“The Solaris energy tobacco strain has been proven, it’s grown around the world, and it’s grown here in South Africa. We actually used this feedstock to operate a couple of flights 10 years ago.” On the podium was a well-known pioneer in environmental sustainability in aviation, Ian Cruickshank of Starline Holdings, on how emerging sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects are advancing low-carbon aviation.

“Normally with tobacco you want these big, beautiful leaves,” Cruickshank explained. “In this case, we don’t. We actually want lots of seeds and flowers, which is crazy. The Solaris strain contains no nicotine, it’s been tested in the market and people have smoked it and found out that it was terrible. So, we knew that the crop wasn’t going to be stolen, which is great. This crop was planted and proved to have a very, high yield compared to a lot of the other competitors that were out there. So we have this product that isn’t actually competing with any of our food, which is amazing.”

The Solaris tobacco value chain converts seeds into fuel oil, leaves or stalks into livestock feed, and biomass for energy, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional tobacco, reducing carbon emissions in the aviation sector while providing a new economic opportunity for farmers. Cruickshank’s inspiring case study set the scene for a dynamic debate on Africa’s transport transition, balancing the immediate role of alternative fuels with the long-term shift to true zero-emission systems.

Biodiversity credits
New on the AGES programme this year were workshops diving into the evolving landscape of nature and biodiversity finance. From green bonds to biodiversity credits, each session explored a different pathway for mobilising capital to protect, restore and invest in Africa’s natural assets.

“The session looked at how we ensure that nature projects have a better opportunity to access nature bonds or green bonds,” reported panellist Amanda Gcanga, Country Lead: Cities Programme in South Africa and Urban Water Resilience Initiative, Senior Urban Policy Analyst, at the World Resources Institute. “Regarding the constraints, we need to decode the benefits of nature, of biodiversity, in a way that results into bankable projects, so creating a pipeline of bankable projects, decoding the language of nature and the environment, in a way that makes projects more profitable and makes projects more accessible to financiers.”

“I have already engaged with folks in the finance sector who are really interested in understanding how conservation plays a role in, for example, water security, be it too much water in terms of flooding or too little water in terms of droughts that we’re seeing increasing. I’ve also engaged with the environmentalist community, folks working in nature parks and folks working in some of the greatest landscapes in Africa that are currently being restored. In addition, I’ve connected with people in the research community. So we’re coming together, we have different languages, but all in serving the green economy and what green economy means in this space, particularly of nature and biodiversity.”

Difficult conversations
The WomenIN session proved to be a lively and stirring session that explored how women leaders, entrepreneurs and investors are transforming Africa’s green and blue economy.

“The position that I am privileged to be in allows me to change many things, and I think, what is fundamentally important, is that we don’t shy away from the difficult conversations,” proclaimed Nomathemba Mhlanga, Chief Sustainability Officer at Coega Development Corporation.

She continued: “Instead of shying away, we should look at it for what it is and look at solutions that directly target where the structural problems are. I find that we tend to shy away from having those hard conversations. I think we should use the spaces that we are given as women to drive the changes that we want to see. If we have been elevated and given those platforms, use them as vehicles to elevate other women.”

Mindset shift from employee to employer
Economic transformation and job creation were recurring central themes during the AGES conferences sessions, break-aways and project pitches in Cape Town.

The green economy in Africa will create an estimated 3.3 million new direct jobs by 2030. These opportunities are concentrated in renewable energy (particularly solar, which could generate 1.7 million jobs), emobility, sustainable agriculture and waste management. Some projections suggest up to 100 million jobs by 2050.

“Educational institutions have to rethink about how they impart new skills to students,” is the opinion of Maxwell Gomera, Resident Representative of UNDP South Africa and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub, Africa Region. “It’s not just about the certificate. It’s not about the theoretical knowledge that you get. Students must now leave university with a skill that they can apply in their communities.”

“I also had a mindset shift this morning,” he added, “Growing up as a young African in Zimbabwe, I wanted a good education and get somebody to employ me. I wasn’t the only one. In most of Southern Africa, we go to school with the idea that somebody will employ us. We need to shift that. If you look at Nigeria, Kenya, East Africa and West Africa going forward, young people there go to school with the idea that they will create businesses of their own. Not that somebody will hire them, but they will hire people themselves. It’s just a mindset shift that is going to be core to how a green transition will happen on this continent.”

Jobs, jobs, jobs!
“I feel like our mission to connect capital with Africa’s green economy opportunities is just getting started,” stated an elated Iain Banner, Founder and Chairman of Go Green Africa (GGA).

“With over 700 delegates registered, 660 match making sessions recorded, 55 green company pitches made to over 120 financiers (from DFIs all the way to family offices), two packed days of plenaries and breakaway sessions as well as the project site visits having taken place.”

“Thank you to all the sponsors, contributors and delegates who joined hands with us and for all your stellar contributions. While in excess of R400m of investment has landed to date, I have a medium term objective to see that exceed R1bn of investment. And why is that important? Because it equates to jobs, jobs, jobs! And that is what will lift Africa up.”

More links to AGES highlights:
Day 0 (pre-conference) highlights: AGES returns to Cape Town: “There is no nature-based project without the community it serves”

Day 1 highlights: Building a climate-resilient future: “More plumbing, less poetry”

Day 2 highlights: “Smart, green and connected,” as Africa prepares for a digital future

• This article first appeared in the Green Economy Express newsletter, published by Africa’s Green Economy Summit.