By Bright Kweku AZUMAH
As the global push to ease climate change deepens, the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies has emerged as a key strategy for reducing carbon emissions.
Carbon Capture Storage refers to the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes or energy production, transporting it and storing it underground to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.
This technology is particularly relevant to Africa’s energy landscape, where fossil fuels continue to play an important role in energy generation. Global financial institutions such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other international organisations have become key players in funding CCS projects, recognising the technology’s potential to support Africa’s energy transition while addressing global climate goals.
Africa’s energy landscape and the need for carbon capture and storage technologies
Africa faces the two-fold challenge of developing its energy sector to meet growing demand while reducing carbon emissions to conform with international climate commitments such as the Paris Agreement.
Despite the expansion of renewable energy technologies, fossil fuels—especially natural gas—continue to play a significant role in powering African economies. CCS technologies offer a pathway to decarbonise fossil fuel use and industrial processes, providing a transition mechanism that balances energy access and environmental sustainability.
Nonetheless, the development and deployment of CCS technology require significant financial investments in research, infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. Africa, with its economic limits and pressing development needs, often lacks the domestic financial resources required to develop CCS projects on a large scale.
This is where global financial institutions play a central part by providing the technical expertise, funding and coordination essential to advance CCS initiatives.
Contributions of the World Bank to carbon capture and storage technologies in Africa
The World Bank has positioned itself as a leader in funding and assisting CCS projects internationally, with a growing focus on developing regions like Africa. Recognising the importance of CCS in achieving climate goals, the World Bank has incorporated CCS in its broader portfolio of climate finance initiatives, often as part of its Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and other programmes aimed at promoting sustainable development.
The World Bank’s financial contributions toward CCS development in Africa have largely focused on capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and feasibility studies.
Through initiatives like the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Trust Fund, the World Bank assists African governments in evaluating the viability of CCS projects, establishing legal and regulatory frameworks and exploring potential CCS sites. In addition, the World Bank provides funding for pilot projects and infrastructure development, particularly in regions with significant industrial activities and fossil fuel use.
Additionally, the World Bank is working on integrating CCS with other clean energy technologies, such as renewable energy and hydrogen production, as part of a broader strategy to decarbonise Africa’s energy sector. This multi-dimensional approach seeks to ensure that CCS does not exist in isolation, but is part of a holistic energy transition strategy for the continent.
African Development Bank (AfDB) and CCS initiatives
The African Development Bank (AfDB) plays a vital role in advancing climate action across Africa, including supporting CCS as part of its commitment to promoting green growth and sustainable development. The AfDB’s efforts focuses on mobilising financial funds for CCS projects, advocating for policies that promote the deployment of clean technologies, and providing technical assistance to governments and industries.
The AfDB has been a strong advocate for Africa’s energy transition, recognising the need to decarbonise high-emission sectors such as oil and gas while concurrently expanding energy access.
Through its diverse financial instruments such as the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the AfDB allocates resources to projects that contribute to climate resilience and emissions reduction. While renewable energy projects dominate the bank’s portfolio, CCS is increasingly recognised as a complementary technology that can help mitigate emissions from hard-to-abate sectors.
The AfDB is also instrumental in fostering partnerships with other international organisations, governments and private sector players to create a favourable environment for CCS deployment.
These partnerships are fundamental for attracting investment in CCS infrastructure, enabling cross-border cooperation on carbon storage projects and addressing the technical and regulatory challenges associated with CCS.
Other global financial institutions supporting CCS in Africa
In addition to the World Bank and the AfDB, several other global financial institutions and multilateral organisations contribute to CCS development across Africa. Notable among these are the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- European Investment Bank (EIB): The EIB has been an advocate for climate action, financing projects that reduce carbon emissions globally. In Africa, the EIB has supported CCS initiatives through partnerships with local governments and industries, funding feasibility studies and pilot projects aimed at demonstrating the viability of CCS technology in Africa’s unique context.
- Green Climate Fund (GCF): As the largest climate-focused fund globally, the GCF provides financial support for a wide range of climate mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries, including CCS. The GCF has increasingly shown interest in CCS as part of its strategy to decarbonise energy systems in developing regions, providing concessional financing to make CCS projects more economically feasible in Africa.
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): The UNFCCC facilitates global cooperation on climate action; and its initiatives, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), have indirectly supported CCS development by encouraging countries to pursue emissions reduction projects. While the CDM primarily focuses on renewable energy, the inclusion of CCS in future international carbon trading mechanisms could open additional financing opportunities for CCS in Africa.
Challenges and the way forward
Despite the growing interest in CCS, its development in Africa faces several challenges, including high capital costs, insufficient regulatory frameworks and limited technical expertise. Global financial institutions are working to address these gaps by supporting with concessional financing, technical help and policy guidance. However, more needs to be done to incorporate CCS into national energy and climate strategies across the region.
Going forward, global financial institutions can play a greater role by scaling up investments in large-scale CCS infrastructure, encouraging private sector participation and fostering international cooperation on technology transfer. Additionally, there is a need for Africa-specific CCS research and development to tailor the technology to the continent’s unique geological and economic conditions.
Conclusion
Global financial institutions, particularly the World Bank, the African Development Bank, play a vital role in supporting the development of CCS technology across Africa. By providing financial resources, technical assistance and policy support, these institutions help bridge the gap between Africa’s energy needs and its climate goals. As Africa continues its journey toward sustainable development, the successful deployment of CCS could be a key factor in balancing the continent’s energy transition with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions.
The writer is a banker at Ecobank Ghana PLC, with a focus on but not limited in working with SMEs and corporates in Ghana on their payments service’s needs.
