Climate Fund Managers Africa has achieved a major breakthrough in global sustainable finance. The group announced the financial close of Climate Investor Two (CI2) at $1.065 billion, surpassing its $1 billion target and cementing its status as the largest climate-adaptation infrastructure fund focused on Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
This landmark moment demonstrates how Climate Fund Managers Africa and its partners are using blended finance to support energy, water, and waste projects across emerging markets — with Africa at the forefront.
“Closing CI2 above $1 billion in a challenging environment shows there is real appetite for well-structured climate investments,” said Andrew Johnstone, CEO of Climate Fund Managers. “It proves climate risk can be turned into opportunity.”
Outbound link: Climate Fund Managers – Official Announcement
⚙️ How the Climate Investor Two Facility Works
The Climate Fund Managers Africa initiative builds on its first platform, Climate Investor One, which mobilized over $3 billion for renewable-energy generation. Now, Climate Investor Two expands that model to tackle climate resilience — improving communities’ ability to adapt to droughts, floods, and extreme weather.
Developed with the European Commission and the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD), CI2 blends public concessional capital with private commercial finance, sharing risk between governments, DFIs, and investors.
Sectors Supported
- Water security: irrigation, desalination, and wastewater recycling.
- Renewable energy: decentralized solar and hybrid mini-grids.
- Circular economy: recycling and waste-to-energy facilities.
The new Bridge-to-Bond mechanism, co-designed with Sanlam Investments South Africa, opens fixed-income markets to CI2’s asset base — linking global bond investors directly to African climate infrastructure.
Outbound reference: Sanlam Investments Sustainable Finance Overview
🌍 Why Africa Is Central to Climate Fund Managers’ Strategy
Africa sits at the heart of the Climate Fund Managers Africa portfolio.
The continent faces rising demand for clean water and renewable energy, alongside greater exposure to climate shocks. CI2 aims to provide resilient infrastructure that creates jobs, improves urban living conditions, and strengthens food and water systems.
The African Development Bank estimates that adaptation costs could reach $277 billion annually by 2030. CFM’s initiative directly targets this gap, making it one of the most important climate-finance mobilizations in Africa this decade.
This approach complements other capital movements such as AFC Infrastructure Financing and Nigeria’s $410 Billion Energy Transition Vision — together forming a continental shift toward clean-energy industrialization.
🌱 Blended Finance: The Engine of Resilience
Climate Fund Managers Africa relies on blended-finance architecture to attract investors who might otherwise view Africa as high-risk. By using public funds to de-risk private capital, CFM ensures scalability and commercial viability for adaptation projects.
This aligns with lessons in Reducing Risk, Building Confidence, where government guarantees and co-lending mechanisms proved vital for unlocking institutional finance.
🌾 African Projects Under Climate Fund Managers Africa
| Project | Sector | Country | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nairobi Water Reclamation | Wastewater reuse | Kenya | Supplies 60 M L/day for irrigation & industry |
| Otjikoto Hybrid Solar Grid | Renewable energy | Namibia | Powers 12,000 homes with 15 MW capacity |
| Accra Circular Hub | Waste-to-energy | Ghana | Converts 1,000 tons of waste daily |
| Cape Town Water Resilience Program | Water security | South Africa | Provides clean water to 500,000 residents |
These projects demonstrate that climate adaptation in Africa is now a profitable investment class rather than a donor-funded expense.
💰 Partnerships Driving Climate Fund Managers Africa Forward
The CI2 closing deepens ties among CFM, Sanlam Investments, and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) — forming an ecosystem of African-led climate-finance institutions.
- AFC channels large-scale capital through syndicated loans and guarantees.
- Sanlam connects African institutional investors to sustainable assets.
- CFM designs and manages blended-finance platforms to execute projects.
This triangular partnership ensures that African capital remains invested in African infrastructure, strengthening financial sovereignty.
🌐 South–South Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing
Although CI2 has a global scope, much of its innovation flows from Africa outward.
Experience gained in Kenya, Namibia, and Ghana is being shared with partners in Indonesia, Peru, and Colombia, promoting South–South knowledge exchange on sustainable finance.
For comparison, see Turkey–Africa Direct Foreign Investment to Hit $40 Billion, which also reflects growing cooperation between emerging markets.
🔍 Policy Lessons for Africa’s Leaders
Governments can replicate the Climate Fund Managers Africa model by:
- Establishing national blended-finance facilities with local pension participation.
- Offering credit guarantees for early-stage infrastructure.
- Encouraging diaspora co-investment via green bonds and project equity.
This inclusive approach aligns perfectly with AGF’s mission to empower diaspora capital and African DFIs to lead sustainable development.
🌎 Building Africa’s Climate-Finance Future
The success of Climate Fund Managers Africa shows that Africa’s adaptation challenge can evolve into its largest investment opportunity. By pairing global liquidity with local expertise, CFM and partners are proving that profitable climate infrastructure can deliver both resilience and return — setting a blueprint for the continent’s climate decade.
“Our focus is to make climate adaptation investable,” said CEO Johnstone. “Africa can lead the way.”
