Laying the Ground for Scaling up Climate Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces growing climate vulnerability, with rising temperatures and extreme weather threatening agriculture, food security, and economic growth. These challenges worsen poverty, fiscal constraints, and limited human capital investment. To address these risks, SSA countries need to scale up green investments while ensuring debt sustainability. Given insufficient traditional public financing, a mix of grants, concessional debt, and private investments is crucial. This paper presents survey results on climate finance in SSA and introduces the Climate Finance Preparedness Index (CFPI) to assess countries' readiness for green financing, highlighting the need for policy reforms, institutional strengthening, and innovative financial products.