By centering climate responses within Africa’s development needs, the continent can unlock new investments, boost incomes, and enhance its resilience. As leaders gather in Addis Ababa for the Africa Climate Summit, the continent must define a bold narrative that strategically links climate action with development progress.
Climate change should not be a global emergency that Africa is simply signing up to solve. This crisis is already costing Africa billions every year, and an estimated 110 million people have been directly affected by climate-related hazards.
Climate action can and must be made to work for Africa by recasting it through an Africa-centered development lens. Responses to the climate crisis offer Africa an opportunity to leverage climate solutions and sustainable technologies to increase incomes, accelerate poverty reduction, and improve adaptation and resilience.
African and global leaders are converging at the second Africa Climate Summit in Ethiopia this September. As we gather in Addis Ababa, we must drive bold reforms and ambitious actions that can repurpose climate change solutions to address Africa’s core development imperatives.
Income growth and poverty reduction remain Africa’s core development pathway, the rising tide that promises improvements across all other social, economic and political indicators.
Africa’s income growth and poverty reduction needs are clear. The average GDP per capita of Sub-Saharan Africa was $1,506 in 2024, 40 percent lower than middle-income countries, and 90 percent lower than upper upper-middle-income countries.
The continent’s GDP grew by 3.3 percent in 2024. That annual growth rate must increase to approximately 19 percent on average for GDP per capita to double by 2030. The continent’s GDP must multiply seven times over for African countries to reach middle-income country status.
The pathway to income growth and poverty reduction is equally clear. Africa must increase investments several-fold to drive economic growth, create jobs, increase productivity, improve competitiveness and enhance social services. Sustained economic growth will result in higher incomes, delivering the poverty reductions that are urgently needed.
Climate change response strategies can be repurposed to meet Africa’s income growth and poverty reduction goals in two ways. First, climate solutions can free up investments, which can then be more productively deployed to drive economic growth.
Second, climate solutions can be used to reduce climate vulnerability, improve adaptation, resilience and enable sustained economic growth.
Energy efficiency can help secure the emissions reductions that the world needs to achieve to minimise the harshest impacts of the climate emergency. Improving energy efficiency also means lower utility bills for consumers and businesses, and less demand on power grids for governments.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Africa currently uses 3.7 gigajoules (GJ) of energy for every thousand USD of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
By transitioning to a higher efficiency of 2.7 GJ per thousand USD of GDP by 2030, consistent with IEA’s net zero emissions pathway, Africa could save billions through avoided energy and infrastructure costs. These avoided investments could then be productively deployed for economic and income growth in areas where they are needed.
Climate change is already costing Africa two to five percent of its GDP, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) estimated.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, this translates to approximately $40 billion to $100 billion of lost incomes in 2023 - money that could have been utilised to enhance economic growth or support social services.
It can be argued that Africa bears a disproportionately large share of climate impacts because the poor and vulnerable are the least prepared to face climate vulnerabilities when they occur. The WMO projects that by 2030, 118 million extremely poor people in Africa will remain highly vulnerable to climate impacts such as heat stress, droughts and floods.
Energy-efficient appliances, such as lights, fans, air-conditioners, refrigerators, electric cookers, water pumps, cold storages, and milling equipment, are crucial to building adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change among the world’s most vulnerable populations.
CLASP estimates that more than half of the population in Africa lacks access to many essential appliances, such as fans and refrigerators. There are equally large ownership gaps for agricultural equipment, such as water pumps, milling equipment and cold storage.
These appliances are critical to helping reduce the risks of income and productivity losses from climate impacts.
CLASP estimates that increasing access to seven key appliances across Africa could create a market worth approximately $50 billion and catalyse accelerated power infrastructure development to provide electricity for all. It would improve people’s access to essential services, helping individuals manage environmental stressors and economic instability.
Climate change was not Africa’s making, but it is Africa’s fight to shape.
If leaders gathering at the Africa Climate Summit in Ethiopia can reframe the response to the climate crisis as an opportunity to accelerate income growth and poverty reduction, then climate action will not only protect the vulnerable but also power the continent’s prosperity. The future must not be about choosing between climate action and development. Instead, we must make climate action the very centre of Africa’s development.
Emmanuel Aziebor is the Senior Director, Africa, at CLASP, a leading global authority on energy efficiency. Aziebor has been working in the renewable energy sector for over ten years
Unlock a world of exclusive content today!Unlock a world of exclusive content today!
