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On the eve of the upcoming twentieth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-20) in Nairobi, Kenya, the stakes are high, and the time is short: the African continent is rich in diverse cultures, ecosystems, and natural resources, and is a crucial contributor to both planetary and human health. All of this is under threat from the triple challenge of biodiversity loss, building resilience, and pollution. Collaboration is the way forward.
For more than 30 years, the Global Environment Facility has supported African countries in protecting, restoring, and sustaining nature while boosting economic output. Through over 2,000 projects across Africa, the GEF has invested $7.7 billion, leveraging more than $50 billion from other sources. These efforts have helped countries protect biodiversity, combat climate change, prevent desertification, strengthen marine and transboundary ecosystems management, and manage harmful chemicals.
The GEF, as the financial mechanism for key international treaties, continues to help African countries meet their commitments and drive environmental and economic progress. As African environment ministers look ahead to pathways of future GEF-supported collaboration, here is an overview of how the family of funds has built partnerships across the continent over the past three decades.
The GEF plays an important role in supporting the Convention on Biological Diversity and is one of Africa’s top biodiversity protection funders. Its regional portfolio includes over 450 projects totaling over $2 billion, with more than $4 billion in co-financing. Two key areas lead its biodiversity strategy: the creation of protected areas networks (contributing to the creation of over 160 terrestrial, coastal, and marine protected areas covering over 9 million hectares), and the development of tools like the $150 million Wildlife Conservation Bond, better known as the “Rhino Bond.”
The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, swiftly created in response to a request from the Convention on Biological Diversity COP15, has already approved over $200 million in the first tranche of funding. This first round of funding shows how Africa is playing an important role in advancing global efforts to protect nature, as outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Fourteen out of the 40 projects in the fund are in Africa, representing 35 percent of all approved projects, accounting for 31 percent of the total programmed resources. Large projects are underway in Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Sangha Tri-National landscape that lies within Cameroon, Congo, and the Central African Republic.
Protecting biodiversity is only part of the picture. Around 45 percent of Africa’s land is degraded, a situation made worse by climate change, which threatens ecosystems, agriculture, and livelihoods. Restoring these landscapes is essential. As the financial mechanism for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the GEF invests in sustainable land management to deliver the necessary global environmental benefits. One example is the Great Green Wall Initiative that addresses climate vulnerability in the Sahel region. Over 200 projects were approved in the context of the program on land degradation, totaling over $1.5 billion in GEF resources, mobilizing more than $12.4 billion in co-financing.
Another critical environmental threat facing Africa is pollution, especially from harmful chemicals and waste, including plastics. The risks posed by the poor management of hazardous chemicals and toxic waste are clear, yet many African countries often lack the legal systems and infrastructure to manage them safely. The GEF helps countries address these challenges, including mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, highly hazardous pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), medical waste, and the growing problem of electronic waste. Of the more than $1 billion the GEF has invested globally in plastic-related projects, $280 million has been directed to Africa.
Forests are at the heart of the GEF’s integration agenda with 275 projects in Africa supporting their conservation and sustainable management. These efforts have received $1.9 billion in GEF funding, leveraging $14.2 billion of co-financing.
With water, the focus has been transboundary groundwater and integrated surface and groundwater management, recognizing that water flows across borders and must be managed collectively. The GEF supports marine ecosystem conservation and sustainable fisheries efforts in all of Africa’s Large Marine Ecosystems: the Canary Current, Guinea Current, Benguela Current, Somali Coastal Current, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Agulhas Current, and Mediterranean Sea.
The GEF works with the private sector at all scales across Africa including across commodities such as cocoa, coffee, palm oil, corn, livestock, and rice; including with smallholders, leveraging resources from global companies in the Global North to support resilient production systems that deliver a broad suite of environmental benefits while safeguarding livelihoods and securing a future generation of African producers. Work with the private sector and primary production is set to increase under GEF-9 supply chain programs and include sectors such as construction and textiles.
There is transformative value in women's and youth private sector networks, and in this way, the GEF has successfully engaged a range of women’s private sector networks including the Organization for the Promotion of Women’s Industrial entrepreneurship in Africa, and numerous women’s mining associations: Women in Tech Africa, and Women on Boards Network Africa.
Youth engagement is crucial to addressing environmental challenges. Through the Fonseca Leadership Program, the GEF supports 78 youth fellows across Africa - 40 percent of whom women - to conduct academic and field work. Sponsored young negotiators and delegates have attended the Conferences of the Parties of the CBD, UNCCD, and UNFCCC. The GEF has also assisted youth involvement in the process for National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans in Cameroon, Nigeria, and South Africa.
GEF investments and the partnerships they secure offer a strong foundation for building a sustainable future for Africa. This foundation is what AMCEN seeks to build.
For more information, download the factsheet The GEF in Africa - 30 years of effective partnerships.