On COP29 Finance Day on Saturday, the SMI Africa Council (SMIAC) launched the African Green Industrial Cities Briefing—an innovative, place-based institutional investor-public partnership platform designed to position Africa as a global manufacturing hub for green technologies.
This transformative initiative aligns with the COP29 Presidency’s Green Zones and Corridors Pledge and underscores Africa’s central role in the $10 trillion+ per annum and rapidly expanding global green industrial economy.
A New Asset Class: Developed by the SMIAC Investable Asset Classes Working Group, with support from Africa Investor, DLA Piper, and WSP, GICs are platforms for renewable energy, low-carbon industries, and sustainable infrastructure to drive Africa’s green industrialization.
Global Climate Alignment: GICs make Africa’s NDCs and SDGs investable, advancing climate resilience, energy security, and sustainable development.
Economic and Job Growth: Backed by a $3 trillion NDC-aligned investment platform, GICs integrate African markets into global clean energy value chains, fostering green job creation and sustainable economic growth.
Institutional Investor-Public Partnerships (IIPPs): GICs unite governments, institutional investors, philanthropies, and private-sector actors to create scalable, risk-adjusted, place-based green investment programs.
What Sets GICs Apart
Risk Mitigation & Scalability: Global partnerships and African co-investments enable GICs to address political and forex risks while supporting institutional investors as Universal Owners, to decarbonize portfolio companies and green the real economy through strategic green industrial city locations.
Global Collaboration: Aligned with climate investment frameworks from the Commonwealth, G20, G7, BRICS, and Etihad7, GICs provide a place-based investment blueprint for Africa’s industrial competitiveness in the green economy.
A Call to Action
In the spirit of COP29 Finance Day’s mission to scale climate investment for emerging markets and developing countries, I emphasized:
“Institutional Investor-Public Partnerships have the power to transform Africa’s green economy. Together, we can unlock impactful economic, environmental, and social benefits for Africa and the world.”
The African Green Industrial Cities Briefing serves as a place-based green industrialization investment roadmap, positioning Africa as a cornerstone of the $10 trillion+ per annum and growing global green industrial economy.