The Third Annual Africa Climate Finance Conference #3ACFC26 has concluded in Kampala with a strong call for African governments, financial institutions, development partners, businesses and communities to move beyond climate commitments and accelerate the deployment of capital into bankable projects, enterprises and locally led solutions.
Held under the theme “From Commitments to Capital: Operationalizing Africa’s Climate Finance Architecture,” the two day conference was convened by the Climate Finance and Sustainability Centre (CFSC) MUBS in partnership with the Africa Research and Impact Network (ARIN), Frankfurt School of Finance and Management (FS), and Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services (UIBFS).
The conference brought together policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, development partners, researchers, private-sector actors, innovators, youth and civil society to examine practical pathways for strengthening Africa’s climate finance ecosystem and ensuring that climate capital translates into tangible economic and social outcomes.
CFSC: From Knowledge and Policy to Capital and Community Impact
Speaking at the conference, Dr. Maria Nantongo, Executive Director of the Climate Finance and Sustainability Centre(CFSC), emphasised that the conference was deliberately established as a neutral platform for bringing together actors who are often working on different parts of the climate finance ecosystem.
“At the university, we do research and capacity building. Butwe also realised that we have the space, as a neutral voice, to convene people, and that is why we started these conferences,”Dr. Nantongo noted.
She stressed that the role of CFSC extends beyond generating knowledge to creating connections between research, policy, finance and practice, enabling evidence to inform decisions while creating opportunities for capital to reach the people and enterprises that need it.
A central concern throughout the conference was the gap between the availability of climate finance commitments and the ability of African economies, institutions and enterprises to access and deploy that finance effectively.
Dr. Nantongo noted that climate finance must ultimately respond to the lived realities of communities most affected by climate change, particularly women, young people, small businesses and vulnerable households whose livelihoods are closely connected to agriculture, water, food and energy systems.
The conference therefore placed strong emphasis on strengthening investment pipelines, improving project preparation, developing appropriate financing instruments and building the capacity of local institutions and enterprises to access capital.
Government: Climate Finance Must Deliver Economic Outcomes
Opening the conference, Hon. Shartsi Kutesa Musherure, Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development (Microfinance), challenged stakeholders to assess Africa’s climate finance architecture by the capital andeconomic activity it ultimately delivers.
“We should not confuse architecture with outcomes. A strategy is useful if it mobilises capital. A taxonomy is useful only if it influences financing decisions. A pipeline is useful only if projects reach financial close. A tracking system is useful only if it improves decisions and accountability. And an institution is useful only if it delivers,” Hon. Musherure said.
She emphasised that climate finance should be viewed as an economic and development imperative rather than solely an environmental issue, particularly as climate shocks increasingly affect agriculture, infrastructure, energy, water, household incomes and public expenditure.
Uganda has continued to strengthen its climate finance architecture through initiatives including the Climate Finance Unit, the Climate Finance Strategy 2025–2030 and the National Green Taxonomy, alongside work around blended finance, guarantees, green bonds, insurance, carbon markets and other financing instruments.
MUBS Calls for Climate Finance to Reach Beyond the conference Room
Prof. Moses Muhwezi, the Principal of Makerere University Business School (MUBS) challenged participants to ensure that climate finance conversations do not remain confined to conference rooms, institutions and government offices.
He called on the media, researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders with public platforms to take the climate finance conversation to wider society, particularly communities experiencing the effects of climate change but lacking access to the platforms represented at #3ACFC26.
He stressed that there is a collective responsibility tocommunicate issues that affect humanity and to ensure that climate finance becomes a matter of public understanding and priority.
The Principal also underscored that financing climate action cannot be left to the government alone. The private sector, financial institutions, investors, communities, development partners and other actors must take ownership of the transition and contribute to financing solutions.
For MUBS, he said, this responsibility extends into theUniversity’s core mandate of education, research and engagement with practitioners and communities.
He called for research to be more closely connected to theneeds of society, noting that: “Our research must be tied to what the community requires.”
He further urged the Business School to continue involvingpractitioners in its teaching, research and engagement spaces so that students and researchers remain connected to what is happening beyond the university.
The Principal also called for stronger African collaboration,noting that climate challenges are not unique to individual countries and therefore require a collective continental approach.
He challenged African institutions to demonstrate ownership and sustainability in responding to climate change and to useknowledge, research and business education to influencedecisions that can deliver meaningful change.
Africa Must Change Its Climate Finance Narrative
In her address, Dr. Akinyi J. Eurallyah, Programme Managerat the Africa Science Policy Fellowship at ARIN, challenged stakeholders to move away from presenting Africa solely through the lens of climate vulnerability and instead position the continent as an investment destination with significant opportunities for climate-resilient growth.
“Africa’s climate story should not be reduced to vulnerability.The continent also possesses extraordinary opportunities for a different development trajectory,” Dr. Eurallyah said.
She noted that Africa continues to receive only a small share ofglobal climate finance despite the scale of its climate financing requirements.
“We need to change the way we talk about Africa’s climatefinance gaps. The problem isn’t just one of volume but also a problem of structure, access and allocation,” she added.
This financing imbalance reinforced one of the conference’s central messages: mobilising additional capital alone will not be sufficient unless African countries simultaneously address project preparation, risk allocation, institutional capacity,financial intermediation, accessibility and the structures through which finance reaches projects.
Building Financial Systems That Move Capital
Goretti Masadde, Chief Executive Officer of the UgandaInstitute of Banking and Financial Services (UIBFS), saidAfrica had reached a point where climate ambition must besupported by the institutional and financial infrastructure necessary to turn commitments into investment.
“For nearly a decade, global climate discourse has beendominated by commitments, declarations and frameworks. However, intent without an operationalised infrastructure is merely a liability,” Masadde said.
She underscored the critical role of financial institutions andfinance professionals in developing the capacity, products, risk frameworks and investment structures necessary to mobilise and deploy climate capital at scale.
The conference placed particular emphasis on the role ofAfrican banks, development finance institutions, pension funds, insurers, SACCOs and capital-market actors as intermediaries capable of moving climate capital from global and national commitments into the real economy.
From Climate Projects to Bankable Investments
Across the two days, delegates interrogated some of the structural constraints that continue to prevent climate capital from reaching African projects at the scale required.
Discussions covered climate finance accountability, tracking and transparency; nature-based finance; financial institutions as climate finance intermediaries; sector-specific financing; blended finance; green taxonomy and institutional capacity; localising climate finance and last-mile delivery; and youth-led climate innovation and enterprise development.
A key feature of #3ACFC26 was the Green Finance Matchmaking and Partnership Hub, which connectedenterprises and project sponsors directly with investors, banks,development finance institutions, insurers, pension funds, development partners and implementing organisations.
The initiative was designed to move the conference beyondconventional dialogue by facilitating investment conversations, referrals, follow-up meetings and potential partnerships between capital providers and climate-focused enterprises.
The objective was clear, to create a pathway from ideas andenterprises to investment readiness, partnerships and ultimately capital.
Unlocking Finance at the Last Mile
A recurring concern throughout the conference was thedifficulty of getting climate finance beyond national institutions and large projects to local governments, communities, SMEs, farmers, women, youth and other actors experiencing the direct effects of climate change.
Delegates called for simplified and proportionate financing andreporting mechanisms, stronger capacity among localinstitutions, better project-preparation support and financingproducts that reflect the realities of smaller enterprises and community-level initiatives.
The discussions also highlighted the importance of building stronger pipelines of investment-ready projects, rather than concentrating exclusively on mobilising additional pools of capital.
Youth Innovation and Green Enterprise Development
Young people and climate entrepreneurs featured prominently in the conference, with dedicated discussions examining how youth-led solutions can progress from promising ideas and pilot projects into commercially viable and investable enterprises.
Stakeholders highlighted incubation, mentorship, market access, appropriate financing, technical support and partnerships as essential components of an ecosystem capable of scaling youth-led climate solutions.
The conference also provided exhibition and innovation spaces where green enterprises and innovators showcased solutions while engaging directly with potential partners and financiers.
As #3ACFC26 closed, the organisers emphasised that the success of the conference will ultimately be measured not by thenumber of discussions held, but by the partnerships, policies, investments and projects that emerge from them.
Under the leadership of the Climate Finance and Sustainability Centre, the conference is expected to contribute to a conference communiqué synthesising key insights and recommendations, while strengthening collaboration among public institutions, financial institutions, academia, development partners,businesses and other stakeholders involved in climate finance delivery.
Key priorities emerging from the two-day engagement included strengthening climate-finance tracking and accountability; expanding project-preparation capacity; mobilising private and institutional capital; developing blended-finance and risk-sharing instruments; strengthening African financial institutions as climate-finance intermediaries; improving last-mile access to finance; and creating strongerpathways for youth and locally led climate enterprises tobecome investment-ready.
The conference also contributed to a broader Africa-led evidence-building process around climate finance. Through regional convenings, research andstakeholder engagement, ARIN and partners are documenting emerging approaches and experiences that will feed into the Africa
Climate Finance Outlook 2026, capturing trends, barriersand practical pathways for strengthening climate finance systems across the continent.
The message emerging from Kampala was clear: Africa’sclimate finance challenge can no longer be addressed through commitments alone. The next phase must focus on building investable project pipelines, strengthening institutions,allocating risk appropriately and ensuring capital reaches the businesses, communities and sectors where climate action must ultimately take place.
For CFSC, the conference reinforces its role as a platform thatconnects evidence to policy, policy to finance, and finance to practical climate solutions.
About the Annual Africa Climate Finance Conference
The Annual Africa Climate Finance Conference is convened by the Climate Finance and Sustainability Centre MUBS as a multi-stakeholder platform for policymakers, financial institutions,developmentl partners, academia, researchers, private-sectoractors, innovators, civil society, women and youth to advance practical solutions formobilising and deploying climate finance across Africa.
The conference seeks to bridge the gap between climate finance knowledge, policy and practice by creating spaces for dialogue,evidence-sharing, investment matchmaking, partnerships and the development of practical solutions that can accelerate Africa’s transition towards climate-resilient and sustainable economies.
