Africa’s Great Green Wall faces $14bn financing gap

Africa’s Great Green Wall faces a financing gap of about $14 billion as the continent seeks to meet its 2030 targets for restoring degraded land, creating green jobs and tackling climate change, the African Union Commission has said.

The warning highlights the scale of funding needed to turn one of Africa’s most ambitious environmental initiatives from a continental vision into measurable results.

Launched by the African Union (AU) in 2007, the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) initially focused on 11 countries across the Sahel. Its 2030 targets include restoring 100 million hectares of degraded land, creating 10 million green jobs and sequestering 250 million tonnes of carbon.

The initiative has since evolved beyond its original Sahel focus. Under the AU’s Great Green Wall Strategy and Ten-Year Implementation Framework (2024–2034), it is being expanded into a broader continental platform for land restoration, climate resilience and sustainable development.

Moses Vilakati, AU Commission commissioner, disclosed the estimated financing gap during a high-level event on scaling up the initiative through continental integration and the new AU strategy.

The event was jointly organised by the AU, African Development Bank and United Nations on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Vilakati said Africa has lost 163 million hectares of land to degradation since 2015, underscoring the urgency of accelerating restoration.

He said the Great Green Wall was now ready to move “from ambition to investment and from investment to impact.”

The AU’s expanded strategy, adopted in 2024, is intended to help countries move beyond individual restoration projects and build coordinated investment programmes across the continent.

A project facing a changing Africa

The Great Green Wall was conceived as a response to desertification and land degradation across the Sahel. But its ambitions have increasingly intersected with broader challenges, including climate change, food insecurity, poverty and conflict.

Amina Mohammed, UN deputy secretary-general, said the initiative was conceived as “one vision, one Africa,” with people placed at the centre alongside landscapes.

She acknowledged that climate change and conflict have made implementation more difficult but pointed to successful experiences in countries including Senegal, Chad and Djibouti as evidence that restoration efforts can deliver results.

Mohammed called on governments and development partners to renew their commitment to the initiative, increase investment and ensure women and young people are central to its implementation.

Mali’s minister of environment, sanitation and sustainable development, Doumbia Mariam Tangara, also called for nature-based solutions capable of delivering environmental, climate, economic and social benefits simultaneously.

Yasmine Fouad, executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, stressed that countries must be allowed to tailor implementation to their circumstances.

“No one size fits all,” she said.

Turning promises into investable projects

The financing challenge is not simply about finding more money. Development institutions are also pushing countries to develop projects capable of attracting and absorbing investment.

Juan Carlos Mendoza, director of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division, identified three priorities: translating national commitments into bankable investment pipelines, allocating risk strategically to unlock financing, and designing programmes capable of creating markets while measuring meaningful development outcomes.

The African Development Bank said the AU’s new continental strategy provides an opportunity to scale investment and accelerate implementation.

Laoauli Garba, the bank’s manager for agriculture research, production and sustainability, said restoration should be viewed not only as an environmental intervention but as an economic investment.

“Every hectare restored means a more productive asset, stronger food security, new opportunities for women and young people, and more resilient communities. That is why the African Development Bank sees the Great Green Wall as an investment in Africa’s economic future,” he said.

AfDB announces $500m restoration programme

Separately, the African Development Bank announced plans to mobilise $500 million between 2027 and 2031 for ecosystem restoration in the Zambezi River Basin.

The funding, to be mobilised under the Ecosystem Restoration in the Zambezi River Basin programme, will involve the Global Environment Facility, Climate Investment Funds, Green Climate Fund and eight participating countries.

The programme aims to strengthen the resilience of 2.8 million people, restore 300,000 hectares of degraded land and create 40,000 jobs, particularly for women and young people.

It will also support the Southern Africa Great Green Wall Accelerator by developing regional investment plans and a pipeline of bankable projects across the Southern African Development Community.