This call to action framed four days of dialogue and collaboration in Addis Ababa, where from 9 to 12 June 2025, project developers, financiers, policymakers, and regional stakeholders gathered in Addis Ababa. The shared purpose was to connect Africa’s most strategic infrastructure projects with climate-smart capital and turn high-level frameworks into funded, implementable solutions.

The workshop, focused on Mobilising Climate Finance for Infrastructure Projects, was designed to be a space for action built around sectoral roundtables on transport and energy. The transport track, held on 9–10 June, saw a detailed presentation of corridors and railway projects that are central to Africa’s ambition for low-carbon connectivity and efficient trade.

Among the projects was the Central Corridor Standard Gauge Railway, an electric freight and passenger rail line linking Tanzania’s port of Dar es Salaam to Burundi and the eastern DRC. With over $20 billion in investments planned across multiple phases, the SGR has become more than a railway, it is the anchor of a new Green Economic Development Corridor. The African Union Commission and AUDA-NEPAD, working with CCTTFA and GIZ, is helping steer efforts to attract climate-aligned capital, including through access to the Green Climate Fund and a pioneering carbon credit initiative that monetises GHG reductions from shifting freight from road to rail. In a region where more than 90% of cargo in landlocked countries moves by road, the implications for emissions, cost savings, and reliability are profound.

Complementing this was the Northern Corridor Standard Gauge Railway, valued at $13.5 billion. Stretching from the Kenyan coast through Uganda and into the DRC, the project is being developed as a low-emission transport backbone aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Both corridors reflect PIDA’s integrated infrastructure vision, linking countries, markets, and communities through cleaner, faster, and more resilient networks.

Also featured was the VICMED Inland Waterway Project, a $22 billion initiative reimagining inland transport from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea. By revitalising navigability along the Nile and its tributaries, the project proposes a low-carbon corridor that leverages Africa’s inland waterways for trade and connectivity, with climate efficiency built into its design from the outset.

As the energy track opened on 11–12 June, focus shifted from the movement of goods to the flow of power. The Luapula Hydropower Project, jointly developed by Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), showcased Africa’s growing momentum in regional clean energy generation. With over 700 megawatts of capacity planned and a $1.2 billion budget, Luapula is expected to enhance energy access and stability across Southern Africa. It also strengthens the cross-border logic of PIDA-PAP2, infrastructure that transcends national grids and supports continent-wide integration towards African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM) through Continental Power Systems Master Plan (CMP).

North Africa’s Jafara Solar and Wind Groundwater Project brought a different, but equally exciting, perspective. The initiative combines renewable energy with groundwater access, linking climate mitigation with adaptation. Using wind and solar power to extract and manage groundwater for human and agricultural use, the project addresses dual vulnerabilities, water scarcity and fossil fuel dependence. It offers a replicable model of cross-sector climate resilience.

Meanwhile, the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) showcased its initiative to build a Regional Renewable Energy, Carbon, Ancillary Services and Electricity Trading Financial Markets, currently in its feasibility phase. With a $3 million initial financing need, the project aims to establish a cross-border platform for trading renewable energy, carbon emission reduction, financial derivative and financial instruments across 14 SADC countries. By enabling cleaner, more reliable power flows, it strengthens grid stability while advancing mitigation goals in line with the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2063. As a market-based mechanism, the SAPP platform also aims to crowd in private investment and diversify the regional energy mix.

These six projects formed the core of the workshop discussions, each reflecting strategic priorities for regional integration and sustainable infrastructure development. Each fall under the Second Priority Action Plan of PIDA (PIDA-PAP2, 2021–2030), which identified 69 regional infrastructure projects selected through a transparent and consultative process. The plan requires an estimated USD 16.1 billion annually to support their implementation.

Importantly, climate smartness & resilience were among the formal PIDA PAP 2 prioritisation criteria, alongside bankability, cross-border relevance, alignment with national and regional priorities, as well as gender responsiveness. This shift ensures that PIDA’s infrastructure pipelines are not only strategic, but also ready to respond to the climate emergency and integrated corridor development of the continent.

The Addis Ababa workshop did more than refine technical proposals. It also helped set the stage for what comes next, the Luanda Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure Development in October 2025, G20 meetings and COP30 in November this year. These platforms will give Africa the opportunity to present a unified, investment-ready message to climate and infrastructure financiers.

For AUDA-NEPAD, and for all PIDA stakeholders and partners, the path forward is to continue the work of connecting corridors to capital. The call remains consistent, join our efforts to deliver Africa’s infrastructure ambitions by engaging, partnering, and investing.