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Finance Earth, FSD Africa and FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) have launched the Africa Nature Impact Fund, which aims to raise $100 million for early-stage nature and nature-based carbon projects across Africa.
The partners announced the fund at the Carbon Markets Africa Summit in Kigali. The fund plans to close its first $20 million in 2027. FSDAi has made a cornerstone commitment of $6.6 million (GBP 5 million).
More than 62% of Africa’s GDP depends on natural capital, yet investment in nature-based carbon and biodiversity projects is far below what is needed. Many projects with strong potential cannot get the funding, technical support and market access they need to grow.
Over the life of its projects, the fund aims to protect or restore 4.5 million hectares of land and to store or avoid more than 100 million tonnes of CO₂e. It also aims to improve the livelihoods of 1.4 million people, half of them women, and to protect more than 60 animal and plant species.
“Africa holds a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity, yet nature-based projects across the continent face major challenges in accessing the patient, fairly structured capital they need to succeed. Africa Nature is designed to change this by financing projects equitably and building local investment and governance structures, so that African nature assets are financed by African financial institutions. This announcement marks a critical milestone in the delivery of this vision and the culmination of our partnership with FSD Africa to date,” said James Mansfield, Managing Director, Finance Earth.
Finance Earth developed the fund with FSD Africa and FSDAi. It builds on the Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE), which FSD Africa runs with Finance Earth.
CAPE helps nature-based carbon projects prepare for investment. It has assessed more than 300 projects so far and has built a pipeline with the potential to deliver over 3.4 billion tonnes of CO₂e across 76.5 million hectares.
“Catalytic capital works hardest when it unlocks markets that would otherwise remain out of reach. By anchoring the Africa Nature Impact Fund with much needed catalytic capital, we aim to de-risk high-integrity nature projects and crowd in the institutional and local investment that African landscapes and communities urgently need. This is exactly the kind of pioneering, high-impact structure FSD Africa Investments exists to support,” said Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSD Africa Investments.
The fund will offer financing matched to each stage of a project, from early preparation to commercial piloting and full rollout. The aim is to move projects from having no revenue to earning long-term, contracted income.
The fund will support projects that have clear agreements to share carbon revenue with local communities, aiming to provide around $450 million to them. It also plans to collaborate with African financial institutions to ensure local management and governance.
Along with partners like FSD Africa, it aims to develop skills in the carbon market among local banks and investors, so that African nature resources are financed by local capital instead of being sold to foreign buyers.
The announcement comes a few days after Kenyan insurer Jubilee Group and development agency FSD Africa partnered with seven InsurTech startups to develop and test affordable insurance for people who lack formal cover.
Last month FSD Africa launched the Manager Finance Facility (MFF), a new initiative aimed at strengthening Africa’s emerging generation of alternative local capital providers.
