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The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has called for a climate agenda that supports Africa’s industrialisation and adaptation priorities, as the institution intensified its advocacy at the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem.
The Bank’s delegation is pushing for a unified African climate position anchored on the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and aligned with commitments from previous climate summits.
The bank indicated in a statement that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) remained central to building climate-resilient economies and enabling green industrial growth across the continent.
Afreximbank’s key demand at COP30 is the mobilisation of climate finance for adaptation and the urgent, effective operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund.
The institution argued that African countries—responsible for less than four percent of global emissions but among the world’s most climate-vulnerable—must receive adequate compensation and support to strengthen national systems that allow them to access climate funds.
The Bank is also advancing a strategy focused on value addition and mineral beneficiation.
It said Africa must prioritise processing its own resources, including turning the Democratic Republic of Congo’s lithium into batteries, to position the continent as a competitive clean-technology hub and create high-value jobs.
Afreximbank is further advocating for a just and equitable energy transition that addresses the continent’s severe energy poverty.
Over 600 million Africans lack electricity, and the Bank said a balanced approach—one that expands renewable energy while responsibly using transitional fuels such as natural gas—is essential for industrialisation.
The institution is also highlighting Africa’s biodiversity as a critical asset for climate resilience and is supporting efforts to monetise these natural resources to strengthen adaptation initiatives.
In addition, the bank is using COP30 to showcase its financing instruments, including the Afreximbank Trade Transformation Fund (ATTF), which it describes as a key tool for de-risking and funding green and climate-aligned projects across the continent.
The Bank’s participation at COP30 includes high-level panels, side events at the African Pavilion, and a planned session with Liberia on developing a carbon markets authority.
Afreximbank Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani, said the Bank’s objective at COP30 was to ensure that Africa’s development priorities were fully recognised in global climate negotiations.
“Our mission at COP30 is clear: to ensure that Africa’s voice is not only heard but heeded,” she said.
Awani said: “We are adding value to our abundant minerals, powering our industries with a sustainable energy mix, and leveraging the AfCFTA to build resilient, integrated economies. We are mobilising Global African capital and demanding a globally supported framework for a just energy transition that reinforces Africa’s ambitions for development and industrialisation.”
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