A new initiative, the Africa Nature Impact Fund, has been launched by Finance Earth, FSD Africa, and FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi), aiming to raise $100 million for early-stage conservation and nature-based carbon projects across the continent. This announcement was made at the Carbon Markets Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Fund’s Goals and Financial Strategy
With a target of securing $20 million by 2027, the fund has already received a significant boost from FSDAi’s £5 million ($6.6 million) commitment. Collaboratively developed with Finance Earth, the fund addresses the funding challenges faced by nature-based carbon and biodiversity initiatives, especially those in their initial stages. It offers financial support throughout project development, from planning and piloting to full implementation, aiming to transition projects from pre-revenue to sustainable, long-term revenue generation.
The Africa Nature Impact Fund has set ambitious targets: protecting or restoring 4.5 million hectares of land, capturing or preventing over 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and enhancing the livelihoods of 1.4 million individuals, with a focus on empowering women, who constitute half of the beneficiaries. Additionally, it aims to safeguard more than 60 plant and animal species.
Community Engagement and Investment Approach
The fund’s structure includes community benefit-sharing, aiming to deliver approximately $450 million in economic benefits to local communities. Projects will allocate a significant portion of their carbon value to these communities. James Mansfield, Managing Director of Finance Earth, emphasized, “Africa holds a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity, yet nature-based projects across the continent face major challenges in accessing the patient, fairly structured capital they need to succeed.”
Mansfield further explained, “Africa Nature is designed to change this by financing projects equitably and building local investment and governance structures, so that African nature assets are financed by African financial institutions.” FSDAi’s initial investment aims to mitigate risks associated with early-stage projects, encouraging more institutional and local investors to participate.
Local Capacity Building and Market Development
The fund builds upon FSD Africa’s Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE), a collaboration with Finance Earth, which has assessed over 300 projects and developed a pipeline with a potential impact of 3.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent across 76.5 million hectares.
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