The growing cost of climate change is seriously becoming an infrastructure problem for Nigeria, damaging roads, disrupting electricity and transport networks; threatening businesses and placing additional pressure on government budgets. Against this backdrop, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), through its asset management subsidiary AFC Capital Partners (ACP), has launched the Infrastructure Climate-Resilient Fund Nigeria (ICRF Nigeria), a new platform aimed at directing domestic institutional capital into climate-resilient infrastructure.
Registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a closed-end fund, ICRF Nigeria is designed to attract long-term investment from pension fund administrators, insurers, asset managers and other Nigerian institutional investors. The objective is straightforward but significant: to move more of Nigeria’s long-term savings into infrastructure capable of supporting economic growth while withstanding the increasingly disruptive effects of climate change.
Most communities that are already experiencing flooding, extreme heat, erosion, water shortages and deteriorating infrastructure, the issue is beyond an environmental one concern. When a flood destroys a road, farmers can struggle to reach markets. When extreme weather damages electricity infrastructure, small businesses lose productive hours and income. When transport corridors are repeatedly disrupted, food and other essential goods become more expensive. These consequences expose an extensive economic concern for government; infrastructure that is not designed for a changing climate, can become a recurring public expenditure, rather than a durable development asset.
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