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The Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, has reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to the successful implementation of the Innovative Climate Finance for Unlocking Development and Equity in Africa (INCLUDING-Africa) Project launched in Abuja.
The vice chancellor spoke at the inception workshop of the INCLUDING-Africa project, a regional initiative aimed at strengthening climate finance systems and promoting inclusive low-carbon development across West Africa.
The workshop, which was held at The Envoy Hotel, Abuja, brought together policymakers, researchers, financial institutions, environmental experts and development partners to discuss strategies for improving climate finance mobilisation and access for vulnerable groups across the region.
Prof. Ortuanya assured the stakeholders of UNN’s “unflinching support” in ensuring that the project achieves its objectives and delivers meaningful outcomes for Nigeria and other participating countries across Africa.
According to him, climate change remains one of the greatest development challenges facing the continent, stressing the need for stronger partnerships, research-driven policies and inclusive financial systems to support adaptation and resilience.
The Project Team Leader and Director of REPRC-EfD, Prof. Nnaemeka Chukwuone, also explained that the initiative was designed to address persistent barriers preventing African countries from accessing and deploying climate finance at the scale required to meet national climate commitments.
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He noted that climate hazards such as flooding, severe heatwaves and prolonged droughts have continued to threaten food security, biodiversity, livelihoods and economic stability across the region.
Despite commitments contained in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Prof Chukwuone said, many African countries still face significant climate financing gaps. He disclosed that current climate finance received by West African and Sahel countries covers only about seven per cent of their projected needs by 2030, while countries such as Nigeria and Ghana have continued to record substantial annual financing deficits.
He identified weak climate-responsive fiscal policies, inadequate mobilisation of public and private climate finance, and limited access to funding for grassroots actors, women-led enterprises and small businesses as major systemic challenges confronting the region.
The project, he said, would examine and strengthen fiscal, financial and policy frameworks to enhance climate finance mobilisation while also developing innovative financial tools and building institutional capacity for low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
According to him, the project will focus on Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, while drawing expertise from a consortium of institutions, including the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, African Energy Transition Services (AETS), the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, and the EfD Global Hub, Sweden.
The three-year project, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is being implemented by the Resource and Environmental Policy Research Centre, Environment for Development (REPRC-EfD), University of Nigeria, Nsukka ( UNN) in collaboration with partners from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and the Environment for Development (EfD) Global Hub at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
