Climate and development finance in a post-aid world — the case for country platforms
Country platforms, one of the most promising innovations in climate and development finance architecture, offer African countries the opportunity to take ownership of their climate and development futures – on their own terms.
Anyone who has visited Cape Town may well have noticed the strange and mystifying sight of its unfinished, raised freeway. As you head towards the popular tourist destination at the Waterfront, one blunt end is clearly visible above you. Half a kilometre away, the other end hangs teasingly against the famous Table Mountain backdrop. These two ends, which were clearly badly askew and never going to meet – and hence the abandonment of the project – represent the perfect metaphor for international climate finance.
The supply side lacks volume and the demand is too weak. They need a buckle to pull them together – and one that convinces asset managers and institutional investors throughout the world to pay attention to African investment opportunities.
Talk of the town
With the Trump administration slashing US Agency for International Development budgets and European nations shifting overseas development aid budgets to bolster defence spending, the world has entered a ' post-aid era '.
But there is an opportunity to recast development finance as strategic investment: ' country platforms.'
Country platforms are government-led, nationally owned mechanisms that bring together a country's climate priorities, investment needs and reform agenda, and align them with the interests of development partners, private investors and implementing agencies. They function as a strategic hub: convening actors, coordinating funding and curating pipelines of projects for investment.
Think of them as the opposite of donor-driven fragmentation. Instead of dozens of disconnected projects driven by external priorities, a country platform enables governments to set the agenda and direct finance to where it is needed most. That could be renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, resilient infrastructure or nature-based solutions.
Country platforms are a current fad. They were the talk of the town at the 2025 Spring meetings of multilateral development banks in Washington, DC. Will they quickly fade as the next big new idea comes into view? Or can they escape the limitations and failings of the finance and development aid ecosystem?
The Independent High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, on which I serve, is striving to find new ways to ramp up finance – both public and private – in quality and quantity. I agree with those who argue that country platforms could be the innovation that unlocks the capital urgently needed to tackle climate overshoot and buttress economic development.
The model is already being tested. More than 10 countries have launched their platforms, and more are in the pipeline.
For African countries, the opportunity could not be more timely. African governments are racing to deliver their Nationally Determined Contributions. These are the commitments they've made to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of climate change mitigation targets set out in the Paris Agreement. Implementing these plans is often being done under severe fiscal constraints.
At the same time global capital is looking for investment opportunities. But it needs to be convinced that the rewards will outweigh the risks.
Where it's being tested
In Africa, South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership has demonstrated both the potential and the complexity of a country platform. Egypt and Senegal also have country platforms at different stages of implementation. Kenya and Nigeria are exploring similar mechanisms. The African Union's Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy calls for country platforms across the continent.
New entrants can learn from countries that started first.
But country platforms come in different shapes and sizes according to the context.
Another promising example is emerging through Mission 300, an initiative of the World Bank and African Development Bank, working with partners like the Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, and Sustainable Energy for All. It aims to connect 300 million people to clean electricity by 2030.
Central to this initiative are Compact Delivery and Monitoring Units. These are essentially country platforms anchored in electrification. They reflect how a well-structured country platform can make an impact. Twelve African countries are already moving in this direction. All announced their Mission 300 compacts at the Africa Heads of State Summit in Tanzania.
This growing cohort reflects a continental commitment to putting energy-driven country platforms at the heart of Africa's development architecture.
Why now – and why Africa?
A well-functioning country platform can help in a number of ways.
First, it can give the political and economic leadership a clear goal. The platform can survive elections and show stability, certainty and transparency to the investment world.
Second, national ownership and strategic alignment can reduce risk and build confidence. That would encourage investment.
Third, it builds trust among development partners and investors through clear priorities, transparency and national ownership.
Fourth, it moves beyond isolated pilot projects to system-level transformation – meaning structural change. The transition in one sector, energy for example, creates new value chains that create more, better and safer jobs. Country platforms put African governments in charge of their own economic development, not as passive recipients of climate finance.
The country sets its investment priorities and then the match-making with international climate finance can begin.
Making it work: what's needed
Developing the data on which a country bases its investment and development plans, and blending those with the fiscal, climate and nature data, is complex. For this reason country platforms require investment in institutional capacity, cross-ministerial collaboration and strong coordination between finance ministries, environment agencies and economic planners. And especially, in leadership capability.
African countries must take charge of this capacity and capability acceleration.
Second, development partners can respond by providing money as well as supporting African leadership, aligning with national strategies, and being willing to co-design mechanisms that meet both investor expectations and local realities.
Capacity is especially crucial given the scale of Africa's needs. According to the African Development Bank, Africa will require more than $200-billion annually by 2030 to meet its climate goals. Donor aid will provide only a fraction of this. It will require smart, coordinated investment and careful debt management. Country platforms provide the structure to govern the process.
Seizing the opportunity
Country platforms represent one of the most promising innovations in climate and development finance architecture. Properly designed and led, they offer African countries the opportunity to take ownership of their climate and development futures – on their own terms.
Country platforms could be the 'buckle' that finally enables the supply and demand sides of climate finance to come together. It will require commitment, strategic and technical capability, and, above all, smart leadership. DM
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