To Attract Funding For Air Pollution, Africa Needs To 'Speak The Language Of Finance'
International agencies are urging African nations to adopt financial terminology and investment-ready proposals to secure funding for air quality improvement. Despite air pollution being a major health risk, the continent receives a disproportionately small share of global development funding.
Why it matters
Bridging the gap between environmental health needs and private finance is essential for addressing the continent's severe pollution crisis.
PRETORIA, South Africa – Multilateral agencies and funders urged African nations at last week’s Africa Clean Air Forum to speak the language of finance to attract investment in improving the continent’s air quality.
Air pollution is the second leading risk for death in Africa after malnutrition. Four African countries feature in the top 10 most polluted countries: Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Egypt.
Yet Africa only gets a sliver of international funding for air quality programmes – which itself only gets 1% of all international development funding,
Sean Maguire, Clean Air Fund’s (CAF) executive director for strategic partnerships, warned that the state of international funding is “bleak” following the closure of USAID and aid cuts by France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
CAF is trying to persuade countries and cities to make a “much more attractive investment case” for different types of funding, said Maguire.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in