Sahara has called for stronger mobilisation of sustainable investment and climate finance to accelerate Africa's development, strengthen economic resilience, and create lasting prosperity across the continent. Dr. Kola Adesina, Group Managing Director, Sahara Power Enterprise Group, made the call at a United Nations General Assembly roundtable on Sustainable Global Investment, Economic Resilience and Climate Financing. Africa's growth ambitions depend on building productive economies that can withstand economic, environmental, and geopolitical shocks.
According to Adesina, sustainable investment, economic resilience, and climate finance should be pursued as interconnected priorities, particularly as Africa continues to face significant infrastructure, energy, food security, and employment challenges. Experts say the scale of the opportunity in Africa is substantial, with almost 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lacking access to electricity. The continent also faces a annual infrastructure financing gap of between $68 billion and $108 billion.
Adesina noted that Africa's most pressing challenge is expanding its productive capacity at scale. He emphasised the need for sustained investment in energy, infrastructure, industry, agriculture, and enterprise development to create jobs, strengthen competitiveness, and support long-term resilience. The global investment landscape presents significant opportunities for Africa, with foreign direct investment reaching approximately $1.6 trillion in 2025.
Adesina highlighted climate finance as a critical enabler of resilient growth, particularly as African economies face increasing exposure to droughts, floods, extreme heat, and other climate-related risks. Despite contributing less than 4% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, African countries are disproportionately affected by climate change. Adesina noted that Africa requires substantial investment not only to grow but also to protect infrastructure, businesses, food systems, and communities.
African countries require an estimated $277 billion annually to implement their climate commitments, compared with climate-finance flows of roughly $30 billion annually. Adesina underscored the need for innovative financing structures that can unlock more capital for mitigation and adaptation projects. He drew from Sahara's experience, highlighting the company's investments across LNG, LPG, gas-to-power infrastructure, and logistics.
Adesina also highlighted Sahara's commitment to a net-zero ambition by 2060 through strategic gas infrastructure development, renewable energy integration, and nature-based solutions. The discussion aligns with Sahara's Beyond XXX platform, a future-focused commitment to advancing sustainable development through investments, innovation, talent, collaboration, environmental stewardship, and solutions that create long-term value across Africa and beyond.
Adesina urged stronger project preparation, increased mobilisation of African institutional capital, deeper local-currency financing markets, and greater regional collaboration in energy, transport, and logistics infrastructure. He emphasised that Africa's opportunity lies in building resilient prosperity, where investment translates into productive capacity, jobs, reliable infrastructure, and sustainable economic growth that endures for generations.
Key points
- Africa requires an estimated $277 billion annually to implement its climate commitments.
- Sustainable investment, economic resilience, and climate finance should be pursued as interconnected priorities.
- Almost 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity.
