By Jeff Kapembwa
The Impending El Nino induced weather variabilities threatening Africa during the 2026-27 period has attracted interest groups with the Pan African Bank-AfDB- extending a staggering US$30 billion to militate the cycle.
The Pan African financial institution has remained an ally of the continent over the years and steadily advanced climate action and mobilized finance across Africa, integrating climate and green growth considerations into its operations.
The share of climate-informed projects has grown over the years from 77% in 2016 to 98% in 2024, with a target of 100% by 2025. All new Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) and Regional Integration Strategy Papers (RISPs) have fully incorporated climate criteria since 2021.
In 2024, AfDB allocated $5.5 billion to climate finance — 49% of total approvals — with 56% for adaptation and 44% for mitigation projects. These investments support climate-resilient infrastructure, renewable energy, and green transport.
The Bank is poised to meet its US$ 25 billion climate finance target for 2020–2025, having reached $19.5 billion (78%) by the end of 2024.
As the El Nino looms over the ‘already weakened continent; the institution is deploying billions through multi-year mechanisms rather than a single standalone El Niño fund for the 2026–2027 cycle.
The Bank’s masterplan is to mobilize up to $25 billion for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program and an additional US4 billion through the Climate Action Window and build regional resilience during the period.
The Bank, on its website says that these large-scale resilience funds target countries vulnerable to shocks like the projected Fews NET droughts in Southern Africa and erratic rains in East Africa.
The AfDB, which has remained supportive to Africa’s quest to help transition from reactive responses to proactive preparation ahead of the 2026–2027 season, supports the African Risk Capacity.
This is arguably with targeted grants and helps countries to recover their farm losses through insurance, a gesture many countries, Zambia included have benefited from.
To strengthen Africa’s climate resilience, the Bank has established the Climate Action Window (CAW) within the African Development Fund, increasing access to finance for the continent’s most vulnerable countries.
Flagship initiatives include the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC), Africa NDC Hub, Adaptation Benefits Mechanism (ABM), and the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA).
Through these efforts, AfDB continues to drive Africa’s transition toward a resilient, low-carbon, and inclusive future, delivering measurable impact on adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable development across the continent.
The African Union and its partners in the climate space convened in Lusaka from June 25-29 and evaluated the risks posed by the temperature driven weather variabilities. The players urged Africa to prepare for the impending El Nino and avert climate induced risks that threaten sectors’ growth.
In a communique, the African Union and the Government of Zambia, after evaluations of risks and called for proactive, unlike reactive actions to defray costs of the crisis that is forecast to attract floods and other associated hazards.
Launching of the Regional El Niño Preparedness Initiative in Lusaka, Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa — represented by Prof. Lackson Kasonka — called on African countries to plan early on how to cushion the El Nino impact, arguing that that the action was the most cost-effective defense against droughts, floods, and extreme weather volatility.
Delaying preparation, experts warn, risks severe consequences for food security and rural livelihoods. Kangwa emphasized that proactive interventions prior to disaster onset are significantly more efficient than post-impact emergency responses.
He underscored the critical role of high-resolution weather forecasts and robust early warning systems in enabling farmers, governments, and communities to adapt ahead of time.
Climate specialists at the forum further recommended scaled investment in climate-smart agriculture, integrated disaster risk management, and enhanced cross-border cooperation to build systemic resilience against future climate shocks.
With agriculture sustaining the livelihoods of millions across the continent, the directive is unequivocal: action taken today will determine the stability of lives, harvests, and economies tomorrow.
The summit which focused on harmonizing seasonal forecasts and shifting from technical meteorological warnings to concrete, multi-sectoral interventions across the continent drew up various solutions, much encouraging early warning activation.
In a communique, the meeting called for expeditious delivering harmonized, consensus-based seasonal climate outlooks across African Regional Climate Centres to ensure a unified regional response.
Accelerating the implementation of the UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative to translate raw climate science into timely, understandable, and actionable advisories for at-risk communities, was inevitable as an early warning initiative.
It urged African Governments to develop targeted response plans for key priority sectors, specifically agriculture, food security, water management, public health, and disaster risk reduction, as part of the sector specific preparedness.
Governments were tasked to remain active and raise funds to invest in climate-smart farming, drought-resistant seeds, and local water storage/irrigation to safeguard harvests and pastoralist livelihoods.
There be promotion and sustained regional cooperation and user-interface platforms between meteorological producers-including ACMAD-the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development among others, to spearhead the insulation.
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) stands ready to combat the 2026-2027 El Niño threats through shifting smallholder farmers from reactive subsistence farming to resilient, business-oriented models.
Through the use of strategy features early warning tools, climate-smart seed distribution, and drought-adapted agronomy to insulate harvests against climate shocks, AGRA has devised a 2026-27 resilience strategy through partnerships with regional centres.
Under an Early Action & Early Warning Integration, AGRA with among others, the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD)—to translate [climate risk forecasts into actionable advisories. This helps farmers time their planting and harvest cycles according to shifting rains.
It envisages promoting the adoption of drought-tolerant and early-maturing seed varieties, combined with water management techniques (such as solar-powered micro-irrigation and soil moisture conservation) to protect yields when rainfall drops.
Shifting production away from highly vulnerable staple crops in dry zones toward drought-resistant non-traditional crops (such as roots, tubers, and climate-adaptive traditional grains) to maintain local food security as part of the Crop Diversification.
Efforts are afoot to foster partnerships for agricultural insurance and anticipatory cash assistance to protect farmers from deep capital and asset depletion during severe weather shocks.
Publishing targeted [Food Security Response Papers (like their Southern Africa frameworks) to inform state policies, maintain strategic grain reserves, and ease transboundary food trade restrictions during supply shortfalls, among other efforts.