By Dele Ogbodo/Seun Adams/Hillary Asemota
Against the backdrop of mounting Climate-related pressure, especially in Africa, the Global Center for Law and Business Economy (GCLBE), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Avocado Media Group, and stakeholders have called on African leaders, private sector players and multinational companies in Climate Change space to translate their commitments, policy formulation into concrete actions that would benefit Africans.
Declaring the 2026 edition of the Africa Climate Forum (ACF) which is in its fourth edition open in Abuja during the week with the theme: ‘Implementing In Lockstep: From Commitments To Action in Abuja, the DG, Global Centre for Law and Business Economy, Prof. George Nwangwu, acknowledged that the lack of commitments from the developed nations, financiers and multinationals on climate pledges have not helped the developing nations who are not the cause of climate change.
He added that millions in Africa still lack access to reliable electricity and clean cooking, even as the continent possesses abundant renewable energy resources.
On the urgent need therefore to move from policy planning, concepts designs and workshop, he said the challenge before policy makers and stakeholders, is not simply to make more commitments.
“It is to translate the commitments we have already made into concrete and measurable results. To implement is to move from aspiration to execution, from promises to projects, and from declarations to delivery.” He said.
Justifying its 2026 theme, he added that – lockstep means recognizing that no single institution, government or sector, can succeed in our solution, explaining that governments must provide appropriate policies. The private sector must bring investment in innovation and commercial disciplines.
Nwangwu said: “DFIs must help mobilize capital and mitigate risk. Researchers and innovators must develop solutions, while civil society and local communities must help ensure that our interventions respond to real needs. These efforts must be coordinated and mutually reinforcing.”
The real measure of climate ambition, the DG, reiterates is not the number of commitments made but the outcomes delivered.
According to him, the urgency of the gathering is reinforced by the outcomes of COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025, adding that the global climate conversation continues to grapple with difficult questions about climate finance, adaptation, the energy transition, international cooperation, and implementing existing commitments.
He said: “For Africa, these are not abstract diplomatic issues. They directly affect our development, industrialisation, food security, and the well-being of our people. We need climate finance that is adequate, predictable, accessible and affordable.
“We need greater investment in adaptation and resilience. We need effective arrangements for addressing loss and damage. We need access to appropriate technologies and financing structures that recognise the circumstances of African economies.
“We must also confront the difficulties that prevent promising climate projects from becoming bankable investments.
On what GCGBE is offering, he added: “Our Policy and dialogue investment include high financing costs, currency risks, regulatory uncertainty, inadequate project preparation and limited access to long-term capital.
“At the same time, Africa must ensure that its voice is heard in shaping the rules, policies and institutions that govern the global climate response.
“We cannot afford to approach these challenges in fragmented ways. We need stronger continental cooperation, greater alignment between national priorities and regional strategies, and more effective partnerships between the public and private sectors.
“This is where the Africa Climate Forum comes in. Our programme is deliberately structured around four complementary platforms: policy dialogue, investment facilitation, innovation, and storytelling. Each addresses a critical dimension of the implementation challenge.
“First, our plenary sessions and panels are designed to shape policy direction.
Through these discussions, we bring together policymakers, practitioners, academics, investors and development partners to interrogate the issues and identify practical interventions.
“We want to move beyond simply describing Africa’s climate challenges. We want to examine the policy reforms required, the institutional barriers that must be removed, the financing mechanisms that can unlock investment and the partnerships that can accelerate delivery.
“We must also recognise the importance of a coherent African voice in international climate negotiations and other multilateral forums.
“From COP negotiations to the G20 and multilateral development banks, Africa must be better positioned to influence decisions that affect its climate and development future.” He said.
Nwangwu, acknowledged that Africa needs enormous investment in renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, sustainable transport, agriculture, water systems, waste management and other critical sectors.
“Yet, too many promising projects struggle to move from concept to implementation. Some lack adequate preparation; others face regulatory barriers, high financing costs or difficulty connecting with investors.
“Our ambition is for engagements initiated here to continue beyond this Forum, leading to better-prepared projects, stronger partnerships, and, ultimately, investments that deliver measurable results.
“Across our continent, entrepreneurs, researchers and businesses are developing innovative responses to climate challenges. These include solutions in renewable energy, clean cooking, agricultural technology, waste management, water systems and climate resilience. Many of these innovators struggle to access markets, financing, partnerships, and the visibility needed to scale their solutions.
“Africa must not be seen merely as a recipient of climate solutions developed elsewhere. We are also a source of knowledge, creativity and innovation. Our entrepreneurs understand the realities of our markets and communities.
“They often develop solutions in response to local challenges, and these solutions may have significant potential across Africa and beyond. We must create the conditions for these solutions to flourish through better access to finance, supportive policies, stronger research partnerships and opportunities to bring credible African innovations into mainstream markets.
Fourth, this year we have introduced Climate Stories.
“We believe that stories matter because climate change is ultimately about people. Behind every statistic is a farmer whose crops have been destroyed by flooding, a family whose livelihood has been affected by drought, a community struggling with water scarcity, or a young entrepreneur developing a solution to an environmental challenge.
“Our stories must also reflect resilience, ingenuity and hope. They must showcase African communities adapting to climate change, women leading local initiatives, young people building green enterprises and innovators creating solutions that work.
“For too long, others have shaped Africa’s climate narrative, with disproportionate emphasis on our vulnerabilities. We must tell our own stories, communicate our own priorities and demonstrate our capacity to lead. Our stories can influence public policy, attract investment, strengthen accountability and inspire action.”
In her remark, the Founder and CEO, of Radah, a specialized media outfit under the Avocado Group, Dr Oge Funlola Modie, Founder and Executive Chair, commended Prof. George Nwangwu, and his entire team at the Global Centre for Law and Business Economy for sustaining this important platform over the past four years, bringing together diverse
perspectives to address Africa’s climate and development priorities.
According to her, the theme of this year’s Forum, “Implementing in Lockstep: Public-Private Action for Green Outcomes,” raises an important question: how do we move beyond commitments and good intentions to achieve meaningful, measurable results?
Modie said: “Africa has participated in numerous climate conversations, developed policies, established partnerships and made ambitious commitments. While these efforts have been important, the true measure of progress lies in our ability to translate them into tangible outcomes.
“For Africa, climate action is not simply an environmental responsibility. It is
fundamentally a development question. It concerns access to reliable energy, food security, resilient infrastructure, economic opportunities and the wellbeing of our communities.
Addressing these challenges, she added, requires collective action, adding that governments must provide clear policy direction and an enabling environment.
The private sector must bring investment, innovation and practical solutions. Development partners must support access to finance and expertise, while communities must have a meaningful voice in shaping interventions that affect their lives.
On bridging gaps, Modie said collaboration must go beyond bringing stakeholders together, explaining further that this requires shared priorities, clearly defined responsibilities and accountability for results.
She said: “There is also another dimension of implementation that deserves our attention: communication.
“At The Radah Media Company, where we are privileged to serve as media partners of this Forum, our work in strategic communication and stakeholder
engagement reinforces an important lesson: even the most carefully designed policies require public understanding, trust and participation to succeed.
“Communication must therefore be part of implementation from the beginning, not something introduced after decisions have been made. It helps connect policy to people, builds confidence in institutions and enables communities to participate meaningfully in the solutions being developed.”
According to her, communication is not merely how we report progress. It is one of the ways we
make progress possible. As we deliberate over these two days, I encourage us to look beyond identifying what needs to be done and focus on how it will be achieved, who will take responsibility and how success will be measured.
“Ultimately, the credibility of our climate commitments will not be determined by what we promise together, but by what we deliver together.” She said.
Speaking on the theme –the Regional Director, UNIDO, Amb. Faber, Abaca Johnson, who was represented by Mr. Reuben Bamidele, said the gathering is timely and appropriate because it speaks toAfrica’s climate finance, policy, and innovation communities to move and practice to deliver. That is precisely the space in which UNIDO works, he said.
While assuring GCLBE of collaboration, he said “The Global Green Industrialization Agenda, which UNIDO will host at COP31 in next month, will carry that commitment forward, adding that the theme of this year’s forum, Implementing a Lockstep Public-Private Action for Green Outcomes, speaks directly to where industry sits.
He said: “Factories, industrial parks, and special economic zones are where public policy, private capital, and new technology meet. Governments set the rules, financiers price the risk, and enterprises decide whether to adopt the technology.
“Pledges fall when any one of these moves out of step with the others. Delivery happens when all three move together.
“Nigeria already has a framework built for this kind of lockstep. The Nigeria Programme for Country Partnership, 2024-2028, signed in Abuja in April 2025, and valued at approximately $175 million, is the first programme of its kind in the country.
“It brings the federal government, state government, the private sector, financial institutions, and their own partners together behind national priorities under a national coordination body.
“Its components map directly onto the communities gathered here, that is, industrial policy, strategic governance and quality infrastructure for the policy community, special economic zones, industrial parks, and agro-industrial and mineral value chains as platforms for investment, start-ups and small enterprises driven by science, technology, and innovation, and digitalization for the innovation community, and sustainable energy and environmental management together with trade capacity under the African Continental Free Trade Area, as the green outcomes we seek.
“The examples I share today sit within this framework – On policy, credible rules and institutions are what give private investors the confidence to commit.”
He acknowledged that “UNIDO has supported Nigeria in building the quality infrastructure on which the green transition depends, including the National Country Policy and the Nigeria National Accreditation Service, and in reviewing its industrial energy efficiency and renewable production policy framework with the Energy Commission of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Environment.”