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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Africa requires about $277 billion annually to meet its climate commitments but currently attracts only about $30 billion in climate finance,Group Managing Director of Sahara Power Enterprise Group, Dr Kola Adesina, has said.
Adesina, disclosed this at a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) roundtable on Sustainable Global Investment, Economic Resilience and Climate Financing in New York.
He warned that the funding gap was capable of underming the continent’s development and resilience
Adesina said closing the financing gap was critical to enabling African economies to expand productive capacity, strengthen infrastructure and withstand growing economic, environmental and geopolitical shocks.
He said Africa’s climate-finance challenge was occurring alongside a broader infrastructure deficit, with nearly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lacking access to electricity, while the continent faces an estimated annual infrastructure financing gap of between $68 billion and $108 billion.
“Africa’s most pressing challenge is expanding its productive capacity at scale. We need sustained investment in energy, infrastructure, industry, agriculture, and enterprise development to create jobs, strengthen competitiveness, and support long-term resilience,” he said.
The Sahara executive argued that sustainable investment, climate finance and economic resilience should no longer be treated as separate development priorities, given the continent’s exposure to multiple pressures ranging from inadequate infrastructure and energy shortages to food insecurity and climate-related disasters.
According to him, Africa is facing increasing risks from droughts, floods and extreme heat even though the continent contributes less than four per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
“Africa requires substantial investment not only to grow, but also to protect the infrastructure, businesses, food systems, and communities that underpin development,” Adesina said.
He pointed to the scale of global capital available for investment, noting that foreign direct investment reached approximately $1.6 trillion in 2025, while assets linked to sustainable investment strategies had grown to $16.7 trillion globally.
The challenge, he said, was to develop financing structures capable of directing a greater share of that capital towards productive projects in Africa.
Adesina called for stronger project preparation, greater mobilisation of African institutional capital, deeper local-currency financing markets and increased regional cooperation in energy, transport and logistics.
He also highlighted Sahara’s investments in LNG, LPG, gas-to-power infrastructure and logistics as part of its strategy to support Africa’s energy needs, while pursuing a net-zero ambition by 2060 through gas infrastructure, renewable energy integration and nature-based solutions.
He said the approach was consistent with Sahara’s Beyond XXX platform, which focuses on sustainable development through investment, innovation, talent development, collaboration and environmental stewardship.
Adesina said Africa’s investment opportunity ultimately hinged on converting capital into productive capacity and jobs.
“Africa’s opportunity lies in building resilient prosperity, where investment translates into productive capacity, jobs, reliable infrastructure, and sustainable economic growth that endures for generations,” he said.
He added that sustainable investment and climate financing could provide the capital needed to unlock that opportunity across the continent.
