Africa faces a widening gap between climate ambition and available financing, prompting increased focus on scalable investment solutions. In response, the African Climate Foundation and Dalberg Advisors have launched an NDC Investment Planner, ‘Bridging Ambition and Investment.’
The NDC Investment Planner aims to translate Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) into investable opportunities. It provides a structured framework to assess climate solutions based on mitigation and adaptation outcomes, as well as their potential to drive economic transformation.
In 2022, Africa required an estimated US$279bn annually to meet its climate goals. However, only 11% of this need is currently being met, with just 14% of total climate finance coming from the private sector – underscoring a significant gap in mobilising capital at scale. With worsening climate impacts, these needs are growing but finance availability is not matching up.
Over the last decade, NDCs across Africa have evolved, increasingly aligning climate ambitions with national development priorities. By November 2025, 17 African countries had submitted third-generation NDCs. In addition, several countries have developed national adaptation plans, while many others are working on long-term low-emission development strategies.
Despite this progress, implementation remains low as attracting investment continues to be a major challenge. Meanwhile, Africa continues to suffer disproportionately from extreme climate events, despite contributing less than 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, African countries are losing 2–5% of GDP annually.
“Developing an NDC is one of the initial steps needed to attract climate finance for African countries. It needs to be followed through by rigorous analysis, prioritisation and commensurate institutional readiness to attract investors. The NDC Investment Planner is a framework designed to support policymakers to undertake these steps in a structured manner.” – Saliem Fakir, Executive Director, African Climate Foundation.
To address this gap, the NDC Investment Planner introduces an iterative approach that enables countries to identify climate actions with the highest economic potential, assess their attractiveness to investors, prioritise the most viable opportunities, and strengthen their readiness to access financing.
“It is encouraging to see countries raising their ambitions for climate action, but there is a tremendous opportunity to bring more structure, process, and rigor into NDC plans. We believe the NDC Investment Planner is a valuable way to do this that will build credibility and resonate with funders and investors.” – Sunru Yong, Partner, Dalberg Advisors.
By guiding governments through this process, the NDC Investment Planner aims to mobilise the right capital and partnerships needed to turn climate commitments into tangible implementation.
The NDC Investment Planner and underlying report is available here. You can also watch the full webinar launch and discussion here.
