SFKC equips professionals in Africa with knowledge and insights to embrace sustainability and climate considerations within their professional responsibilities.
SFKC is managed by the alliance partnership: IFC Green Bond Technical Assistance Program, World Bank Compact with Africa Green Business Fund, IFC Green Banking Academy Africa, West African Development Bank, Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union, SME Finance Forum, and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).
Role of the World Bank Group Sustainable Finance Knowledge Center
SFKC empowers Africa’s private and public sectors to lead the transition toward sustainable business and finance models. Responding to strong demand from stakeholders, the Center supports actors who increasingly recognize climate finance and sustainability as smart development strategies aligned with their national and institutional goals.
Through tailored learning resources, technical training, and strategic networking opportunities, the Center equips professionals across all sectors with the tools to manage sustainability risks and unlock climate-smart growth. It provides both foundational and advanced knowledge to help integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into business decision-making and to leverage climate finance in ways that reflect each stakeholder’s unique development context.
The center:
- Builds Capacity: Delivers accredited training programs in English, French, and Portuguese to strengthen technical and leadership skills in sustainable finance, ESG, climate risk, and nature-based solutions.
- Fosters Leadership: Supports business leaders in embedding sustainability into their roles, enabling them to drive climate action and sector transformation across Africa.
- Enables Innovation: Helps professionals design resilient, future-ready business models and attract investment into climate-smart MSMEs.
- Connects Markets: Serves as a platform for collaboration, linking African stakeholders with global investors, development partners, and sustainability champions.
- Promotes Inclusion: Champions gender equity and inclusive growth by advancing women’s leadership and supporting women-led MSMEs
The Center’s vision is to position African stakeholders as global leaders in sustainable development.
Partners
The Africa Nature Hub
The Africa Nature Hub aims to scale nature-smart, commercially viable investment on the continent. We work with companies in mining, forestry, agriculture, telecoms, tourism, alongside financial institutions to develop integrated approaches that protect ecosystems while delivering sustainable livelihoods. The objective of the Hub is to accelerate nature-smart solutions both within and across sectors to unlock solutions that are only possible through cooperation. We develop opportunities that are:
- Material to core business: reduce costs, increase revenue, preserve natural inputs
- Nature-smart: protect or enhance biodiversity and ecosystems services (forests, water, etc.) by addressing key drivers of biodiversity loss
- Sustainable by generating local benefits: job creation, supply chains, processing, etc.
- Bankable and attractive to commercial lenders and investors
- Replicable and scalable
For examples of concrete solutions see:
