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Our 7-point summary of the Africa Climate Summit

55 nations assembled in Addis this week to talk green. What they achieved. In a nutshell

September 15, 2025

Welcome to Green Rising – Addis Ababa is 50% higher above sea level than Davos, the Swiss mountain resort where global chieftains assemble annually to swap big ideas. At 2,355 meters, the air in Addis is considerably thinner than in Davos (1,560m) and the sense of urgency greater. 

Two years ago, at the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi (1,795m), some 30,000 delegates endorsed a bold vision to build a green economy on the continent – to benefit the planet and the prosperity of local people. There was talk of the immense resources available – from minerals to humans – and funders appeared receptive. This year, about 20,000 attendees showed up in Addis for the follow-up event. 

Here are the essentials from the floor of the convention centre: 

  1. The political will to pursue climate goals has spread further in Africa since 2023 yet failed to retain top billing. 

  • Instead of 20 heads of state in Nairobi, only four showed up in Addis.

  • Oil nations Nigeria and Angola sat on the sidelines in Nairobi but since then have embraced renewable energy with gusto. 

  • East African leaders are still the main drivers of the green agenda, especially Kenyan president Willian Ruto and Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed.

  1. Africa’s green economy has accelerated since Nairobi 2023:

  • Sectors such as renewable energy, electric mobility, green hydrogen and the circular economy show strong growth. 

  • Imports of solar equipment from China rose by 60% over the past year, from 9GW to 15GW, with a tripling of imports to countries outside South Africa.

  • In February, the African Union endorsed Mission 300 to provide electricity access to 300 million people by 2030 – about half the unconnected.  

  1. But there are still major and potentially catastrophic gaps.

  • Indoor air pollution linked to traditional cooking methods still causes more than 800,000 premature deaths annually.

  • Manufacturing makes up just 11% of GDP, compared to almost 18% in the 1980s, with attendant low employment rates. 

  • The total number of electric vehicles across the continent is about 11,000, matching an average apartment complex in Shanghai. 

  1. The main reason for slow progress is a lack of investment. 

  • Africa received $47 billion in climate finance in 2023, less than a quarter of the $190 billion it requires annually. 

  • High existing debt levels are a problem: 21 African countries are either in or at high risk of debt distress.

  • The summit progress report called for global financing systems to be reformed to reflect current development realities, including by expanding concessional finance and delivering faster debt relief. 

  1. That’s not to say no new funds were committed at the summit. 

  • African development and commercial banks said they want to back “green industrialisation" including renewable energy projects with $100 billion. 

  • The European Union launched the multi-billion-dollar Continental Energy Programme in Africa. 

  • The German government has its own multi-billion-dollar initiative called Engaging for Africa’s Green Energy Transition.

  1. Why there isn’t even more investment is no secret, according to African leaders.

  • They chastised developed nations for failing to honor pledges to ramp up green financing. In a statement, they said that providing climate finance is “a legal obligation and not charity,” referencing the Paris Agreement. 

  • Two years ago, Kenyan president William Ruto brimmed with bonhomie. This time he accused Western leaders of breaking a “blood pact” by failing to honour promises to help African nations adapt to climate change. 

  • He said climate inaction was costing tens of thousands of lives in Africa, compounding development challenges for the world’s poorest nations after massive international aid cuts.

  1. In sum, Addis added some oomph to Africa’s green-growth engine but was not a breakthrough. 

  • Mohamed Adow, founder of the Nairobi-based think-tank Power Shift Africa said overall progress is disappointing. “While the world accelerates towards a green energy transition, Africa appears to move sluggishly, with the risk of being left further behind.”

  • Others saw things more positively. The green economy is more real than two years ago. Lots of small moves in the right direction. But Africa remains a few decades behind the curve for planet & prosperity.

Number of the week

…  is the driving range of BMW’s new iX3 electric car launching in South Africa next year, a major upgrade in terms of distance on a single charge. No other vehicle available in Africa today comes even close.

Network corner

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👉 Ethiopia inaugurates Africa's largest hydroelectric dam, the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), aimed to provide energy to millions.

EVENTS UPDATE 

📆 Sign up for the Water and Sanitation Dialogue in South Africa (Nov 9)

📆 Attend the Clean Energy and Environment Trade Fair in Ghana (Nov 11)

📆 Join the Nuclear Power Plants Engineering Conference in Kenya (Dec 1)

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