COP28 is halfway done yet the big decisions in Dubai have not yet been made.

• Organisers claim to have mobilised more than $83 billion globally so far.

• But will fossil fuel be phased out? Dunno. (UAE is a Formula 1 host, pictured above)

To see: It’s unclear if COP outcomes will be planet-changing or how they’ll affect Africa. 

• So far, we’ve mostly seen individual pledges & announcements; some are significant. 

Taking stock: Our focus this week is on new money pledged directly for or aimed at Africa (in as concise a form as possible).

Reality check: Some COP pledges are officially tied in with UN institutions. Others are merely timed to coincide with the event and not necessarily bankable.

• “Often, these are exercises in what you could call 'fire and forget'," warned Marc Vanheukelen, a former senior EU official. 

Pan-African high-profile announcements

• Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA): $1 billion insurance facility created by AfDB to protect millions of farmers in Africa.

• Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA): $175m pledged to scale up financing for green infrastructure projects across the continent.

• Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative: €20 billion announced for the Team Europe Initiative, to increase access to green energy in Africa. 

• Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Consortium: Nine African countries joined the global battery energy storage consortium. 

• Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Initiative: $10 billion initiative launched to tackle food security amid the climate crisis in Africa.

• Re-Gain: $100 million financing initiative launched by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and AGRA to improve food security in Africa.

• Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative: Launched by President Ruto, details to come.

• Africa Finance Corporation: $350 million long-term line of credit for infrastructure signed with the African Development Bank 

Individual African country announcements

1. Kenya signed agreements for seven green projects for a total of $4.5 billion.

2. Egypt signed three agreements in green industrialisation projects.

3. Morocco:

   1. Signed a cooperation agreement on sustainable development with Oman

   2. Signed a MoU on Article 6 with Norway

4. Angola will develop a 150 MW solar project with Masdar.

5. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 

   1. Announced a plan for “People, Forests and Nature” including $62 million of initial funding. 

   2. France committed $60 million in a forest finance package 

   3. Received $40 million to evaluate natural capital for biodiversity and carbon crediting

   4. Rawbank announced $20m for biodiversity and clean energy

6. Republic of the Congo: 

   1. France committed $50 million in a forest finance package 

   2. Signed a MoU with Wildlife Conservation Society on a forest investment initiative

7. Ghana: UAE will contribute $100 million on nature-climate projects, with an initial $30 million investment in the government’s ‘Resilient Ghana’ plan. An additional $80 million from governments and private sector initiatives was pledged.

8. Madagascar received $8.8 million for forest carbon credits

9. Mauritania signed a Clean Energy Cooperation MoU with the US Department of Energy.

10. Mozambique: The World Meteorological Organisation granted Mozambique $7.5 million for early warning and weather observation systems.

11. Rwanda: 

    1. Signed an Article 6.2 carbon offset partnership with Singapore

    2. Unveiled its carbon market framework

12. Sierra Leone signed an agreement for the first wind farm of the country.

13. Uganda:

    1. Government launched its Energy Transition Plan

    2. Inked a deal for a 150 MW solar energy plant with Masdar.

    3. EAIF committed $19 million senior secured debt for a 20 MW solar project.

14. Senegal: EAIF committed €11.5 million to West Africa’s first solar and battery energy storage system project.

15. Zambia will issue its first green bond by year-end by Copperbelt Energy Corp

16. Nigeria announced plan to roll out 100 electric buses

17. South Africa announced its Just Energy Transition Investment Plan of $79.2bn

Developing-country announcements

• Loss and damage fund: $726m total funds pledged as of Dec 6.

• Adaptation fund: $1.3 billion in cumulative contributions from 26 countries going into COP28 with an additional $134m pledged at COP. 

• Least developed countries fund (LDCF): 

  • $2 billion in cumulative contributions from 29 countries going into COP28 with an additional $142m pledged at COP. 

• ALTERRA: The fund created by the UAE will allocate $25 billion to climate strategies and $5 billion to incentivise investment flows into the Global South.

• Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR): The agricultural research network has secured more than $890 million at COP28 to accelerate progress against the ongoing global food and climate crisis in low- and middle-income countries.

• APICORP: The Arab Energy Fund allocates $1 Billion for decarbonisation in MENA & North Africa.