The SummitThe Summit
Background
In 2017, The Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) was established with a EUR5 million grant from the Nordic Development Fund. Its main objective is to strengthen the capacity of African institutions and the private sector to effectively plan, design and implement investments in specific sectors, thereby improving their resilience to climate change. AFRI-RES is a collaborative effort between the African Union Commission (AUC), the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). This initiative is divided into four components: (i) project-level technical assistance; (ii) outreach, dissemination, and training; (iii) guidelines, standards, and good practice notes; and (iv) climate knowledge and data portal. UNECA is responsible for implementing components 2 and 4 while the WB implements components 1 and 3.
AFRI-RES has established a strong foundation for its capacity building efforts, ensuring long-term and sustainable impact. The program has developed sector-specific resources on climate resilience in Africa, including guidance notes on agriculture, water, health, energy, ecosystems and urban areas and innovate analytics. Additionally, it has created a climate portal that connects different climate data sources, and introduced the Resilience Booster tool, enabling users to analyze and assess climate risks. AFRI-RES has also awarded 30 catalytic grants to projects in sectors as such, agriculture, energy, health, transportation, and water, to enhance climate resilience during the project design phase. These activities have been complemented by various training programs that have been carried out in English and French. To date, AFRI-RES has hosted five Africa Climate Resilience Investment Summits (ACRIS) designed to empower various stakeholders to focus on climate-resilient solutions and funding, encouraging widespread and impactful action.
Objective
The primary objectives of the Sixth Africa Climate Resilient Investment Summit (ACRIS VI) are to convene stakeholders from diverse sectors, including government officials, policymakers, private sector representatives, civil society organizations, researchers, universities, and development partners. The summit aims to facilitate dialogue, exchange of knowledge, and collaboration in order to collectively enhance climate resilience in Africa.
The summit aims to:
- To showcase innovative approaches and best practices to enhance the development of climate resilient investments, policies and programmes, and support African countries transition towards a greener and more resilient economies.
- To identify effective policies and programmes that can be replicated and scaled up across multiple African countries to enhance adaptation and resilience efforts.
- To facilitate the exchange of knowledge, and foster partnerships and collaborations among governments, businesses, civil society, and development organizations to mobilize resources and coordinate actions in building climate resilience.
- To promote active participation from the private sector in climate-resilient initiatives, projects, and innovations through the showcase of their services.
Expected Outcomes
By the end of ACRIS VI, the following outcomes are anticipated:
- Increased awareness and commitment among stakeholders to prioritize climate risks, adaptation, and resilience on decision-making.
- Identified effective policies and programmes that can be replicated and scaled up across multiple African countries to enhance resilience efforts.
- Enhanced collaboration and knowledge exchange among governments, policymakers, private sector representatives, civil society organizations, researchers, universities, and development partners to tackle common climate challenges.
- Identified opportunities for public-private partnerships and investments in climate-resilient projects and initiatives.
Target Participants
- Government officials and policymakers from African nations.
- Representatives from regional and international organizations and communities working on resilient infrastructure, climate change, adaptation, mitigation, and sustainability.
- CEOs and executives from the private sector, including energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and finance industries.
- Experts, researchers, and academia specializing in engineering, infrastructure, economics, climate change and resilience.
- Representatives from civil society organizations.