At a high-level ministerial event held during COP30 in Belém, Brazil, on Saturday, November 15, 2025, four key African nations; Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, and Togo, joined an extensive international cohort announcing plans to develop Country Platforms for climate and nature finance. This coordinated move, intended to be supported by the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) Readiness Programme, represents a significant turn away from fragmented, one-off project applications toward a strategic, country-driven mechanism designed to translate National Climate Priorities into programmatic and investable pipelines.
The announcement was co-hosted by Brazil’s Ministry of Finance and the GCF, underscoring the international urgency to align global finance with national action at a moment when funding for climate adaptation and mitigation is severely falling short across the developing world. The GCF, mandated as the primary operating entity of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC, views these platforms as a strategic opportunity to bring the whole of government, the private sector, and development partners together around a single process to align public and private finance.
For African nations, where the need for climate finance runs into the trillions of dollars by 2030, the establishment of these platforms tackles a core infrastructural problem: fragmentation. Historically, finance flows have been siloed, insufficient, and difficult to access due to complex due diligence requirements. A Country Platform, by contrast, acts as a coordination mechanism with four core functions:
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- Translation of national commitments (like NDCs and NAPs) into tangible, climate-resilient investment pipelines.
- Coordination of stakeholders, ensuring alignment between government bodies, multilateral agencies, the private sector, and civil society.
- Catalytic Effect in mobilising finance by structuring opportunities and tackling barriers to capital deployment.
- Implementation and Monitoring of policies and projects, aligning them with innovative financial engineering.
The GCF is supporting this shift by offering end-to-end assistance, from Readiness funding for platform design and capacity building, to pipeline preparation via the Project Preparation Facility (PPF), and finally, project financing itself, including grants, concessional loans, and equity.
African countries joining the network are focusing the platform model on their specific economic and geographic challenges:
- Lesotho is launching the HMKLIII Just Energy Transition Ltd, a government-endorsed, private-sector-led platform designed to transform the country from an energy importer to a clean power exporter. Prime Minister Samuel Matekane noted that this innovative model involves developing power projects and recycling returns through a quasi-sovereign wealth fund to support national development priorities.
- Togo is leveraging the platform to develop its ambitious ‘Green-Blue Corridor Togo-Sahel’ program. This initiative positions Togo as a logistics hub for sustainable transport in West Africa, focusing on renewable energy and resilient infrastructure for sustainable growth.
- Rwanda, already a leader in climate planning, is consolidating its institutional strengths into the Rwanda Country Platform for Climate and Development. Minister of Environment Dr. Bernadette Arakwiye emphasized that their platform will align public and private partners, with priority programs in Sustainable Land Management, Climate-smart Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities already costed and ready for investment.
- The African Islands States Climate Commission (AISCC) is developing a Regional Co-Investment Platform for Climate Finance and Blue Economy, focusing on integrated climate and ocean-based solutions across African island nations.
To ensure the success of these country-led efforts, Uganda, alongside Brazil and the V20 Group, announced the establishment of a new Country Platform Hub. The Hub will serve as a continuous learning and best-practice-sharing facility, connecting governments to the technical and financial partners needed to design, implement, and scale their new platforms. GCF is committed to supporting this Hub concept through its funding windows.
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