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2nd Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa
The second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) took place in Addis Ababa from Monday to Wednesday. More than 25,000 delegates, including over 40 heads of state and government, ministers from numerous African countries, representatives of the African Union (AU) and international partners, as well as representatives of business, civil society, youth and local communities, took part in the three-day conference, which was jointly organized by the Ethiopian government and the AU. Notable guests included UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Kenyan President William Ruto, and Ethiopian Prime Minister and host Abiy Ahmed. Germany was represented by Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
Under the theme “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development,” the summit aimed to strengthen Africa’s role as an active shaper of global climate protection solutions, mobilize investment in renewable energies and green infrastructure, and formulate common positions for greater climate justice and fair financing mechanisms. The focus was on the adoption of the Addis Ababa Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action, which is to be presented as a joint African position at the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belém in November.
According to official statements, the Addis Ababa Declaration rests on three pillars: the accelerated expansion of renewable energies, the formation of a coalition of African producers of critical minerals, and the protection of natural resources through reforestation and restoration programs. In particular, support for existing African initiatives is to be promoted, including the African Union Green Wall Initiative, which aims to halt the spread of the Sahara with an 8,000 km green belt, the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, which aims to restore over 100 million hectares of degraded land on the continent by 2030, and the Ethiopia Green Legacy Initiative, which has planted 32 billion trees in Ethiopia in seven years and is intended to serve as a model for other African countries.
In addition, two new instruments have been created, the African Climate Facility (ACF) and the Africa Climate Innovation Compact, which are intended to mobilize USD 50 billion annually for climate protection and adaptation projects. The Compact also aims to promote and implement around 1,000 innovative African solutions for climate protection in areas such as energy, agriculture, water, transport, and resilience by 2030. The Flagship Report on African Climate Initiatives was also published, highlighting existing and proven successful African-led climate initiatives which are supposed to be scaled up through international partnerships.
With regard to adaptation financing, African heads of state and government emphasized the legal obligation of industrialized nations to provide financing in the form of grants rather than loans. They also called for the continent to be seen not as a challenge but as part of the solution to the global transition to a climate-neutral economy, highlighting the continent’s investment potential in the field of renewable energies. Africa’s share of global investment in renewable energies is set to rise from its current level of just 2% to at least 20% by 2030, in line with its potential. The African states thus used the summit to highlight the opportunities for economic growth offered by climate protection measures and the green transformation.
The extent to which the Addis Ababa Declaration can have a concrete impact will depend largely on the availability of financial resources. According to a report published during the summit, Africa needs at least US$70 billion annually for adaptation measures alone, but will only receive around US$15 billion in 2023. This means that without additional funding, the costs of climate change could eat up to a fifth of Africa’s gross domestic product by 2050. The implementation of the decisions made at the first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi in 2023 was already limited, not least due to funding gaps.
Ethiopia inaugurates Nile dam
On Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). At 145 metres high, almost two kilometres long and with a total capacity of 5,150 megawatts, the dam on the Blue Nile is Africa’s largest hydroelectric power plant. After 14 years of construction and five years of filling, the dam is expected to more than double Ethiopia’s electricity generation and is considered a central element of the country’s desired economic transformation. The celebrations in Guba, near the border with Sudan, took place at the same time as the Africa Climate Summit and the Africa-CARICOM Summit in Addis Ababa. Numerous high-ranking guests attended, including the presidents of Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan, as well as the prime minister of Eswatini and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. Representatives from Egypt and Sudan, however, did not attend the inauguration despite official invitations. Both countries have been critical of the project for years.
The GERD was largely financed from Ethiopia’s own resources and is considered a prestigious national project. International financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank refused to provide financing. Experts attribute this to political pressure from Egypt. Only China contributed with loans for the turbines and electrical engineering. The Ethiopian government therefore relied on self-financing from 2011 onwards. Funds for the mega-project, costing just under 5 billion US dollars, were mobilised through donation campaigns, the sale of government bonds and the withholding of public sector salaries. Millions of Ethiopians, including those from the diaspora, contributed. Accordingly, the project developed a high symbolic significance as an expression of collective achievement and national unity – a narrative that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has also consistently emphasised. In addition to its symbolic significance, the dam is considered to play an important economic role. Currently, only an estimated 45 to 54% of the population has access to the electricity grid. By 2030, this figure is expected to rise to at least 90 per cent – a goal that, however, requires considerable investment in grid infrastructure. In addition, electricity worth around one billion US dollars is to be exported to the countries of Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania.
At the same time, the GERD has been causing tensions among the countries bordering the Nile for years. Egypt and Sudan in particular, which cover most of their water needs from the Nile, see their water security threatened. They are calling for a binding agreement on operation, safety standards and dispute resolution, based on a 1959 agreement that grants them extensive rights of use and veto over the Nile. However, Ethiopia does not recognise this agreement. All negotiations have so far been unsuccessful (Press Review CW 14/2021).
The tone had recently become even more heated. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty described the GERD as an existential threat and spoke of a ‘red line’ in terms of water security. In a joint statement last week, Egypt and Sudan criticised the commissioning as a unilateral step with potentially destabilising effects. There are also fears in Cairo that Ethiopia could use the dam as a political lever – for example, against Sudan, whose Roseires Dam is located downstream and could be sensitive to abrupt discharges. Against this backdrop, Egypt has recently intensified its relations with Eritrea and Somalia, which also have tense relations with Ethiopia, because of Ethiopia’s efforts to gain permanent access to the Red Sea.
Ethiopia rejects the accusations and emphasises the regional benefits of the dam, such as flood protection and energy exports. Independent studies have so far reported no major downstream effects, partly due to the gradual filling of the dam during the rainy seasons. According to experts, the potential for conflict in the long term depends on how the dam is managed. An agreement on water releases during periods of drought is considered particularly important. At the dam’s inauguration, AU Commission President Youssouf said the African Union was ready to support the three countries in reaching an agreement based on the declaration of principles signed in Khartoum in 2015. However, it remains to be seen whether and when a solution will be found.
In other news
On Friday, the Aviation AFRICA Summit and Exhibition 2025, the continent’s largest aviation event, came to an end in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. The ninth edition of the annual conference and trade fair brought together more than 2,000 African and international aviation professionals over two days under the theme ‘Collaborating to unlock Africa’s growth: How can Africa deliver a sustainable aviation industry?’. The highlight was the presentation of Africa’s first self-flying air taxi: the EHang EH216-S model completed a test flight at an altitude of 100 metres. Equipped for two passengers, the electrically powered drone can travel up to 30 kilometres and reach a speed of around 130 km/h. The Rwandan government emphasised that the project is part of a long-term strategy to solve urban transport problems, improve connections to remote regions and position the country as a pioneer of modern, climate-friendly transport systems. The demonstrative flight was organised as part of a partnership between the Rwandan government, the China Road and Bridge Corporation and the Chinese aviation technology company EHang Holdings Limited, and attracted widespread international interest. Passenger drones are becoming increasingly important worldwide as an electrically powered and environmentally friendly alternative for urban transport. With the successful debut flight on African soil, Rwanda now wants to signal the continent’s entry into a new era of urban mobility.