Nature conservation Nature-based solutions Africa

New $100m fund backs early-stage nature projects in Africa

New $100m fund backs early-stage nature projects in Africa

Finance Earth, FSD Africa, and FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) have launched the Africa Nature Impact Fund, a $100 million platform for early-stage nature and nature-based carbon projects across Africa. The fund targets a $20 million first close in 2027, anchored by a $6.6 million cornerstone commitment from FSDAi.

161026_New $100m fund backs early-stage nature projects in Africa_visual 1What a $100m fund aims to deliver for African nature infographic.

Over the lifetimes of the projects it backs, the fund aims to protect or regenerate 4.5 million hectares of land and to sequester or avoid more than 100 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e). It also targets the protection of more than 60 animal and plant species and improved livelihoods for 1.4 million people, half of them women.

Finance Earth, a London-based environmental investment manager, will manage the fund. Managing Director James Mansfield set out the gap it addresses: “Africa holds a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity, yet nature-based projects across the continent face major challenges in accessing the patient, fairly structured capital they need to succeed.”

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Africa Nature offers funding tailored to each stage of a project’s development, from preparation through commercial piloting to implementation, bridging projects from pre-revenue to long-term contracted revenue. It will invest only in projects with benefit-sharing arrangements that direct a substantial share of gross carbon value to host communities.

161026_New $100m fund backs early-stage nature projects in Africa_visual 2Funding that follows a project from start to revenue infographic.

“Africa Nature is designed to change this by financing projects equitably and building local investment and governance structures, so that African nature assets are financed by African financial institutions”, Mansfield said.

FSDAi, a specialist investor established by FSD Africa and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), backs the fund. Africa Nature builds on the Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE), launched by FSD Africa with Finance Earth in 2024. CAPE has assessed more than 300 projects and developed a pipeline representing over 3.4 billion tCO2e.

Finance Earth is setting up Africa Nature in Mauritius as a closed-end debt fund, unveiled at the Carbon Markets Africa Summit. The fund awaits regulatory approval, and subscriptions open once licensing is complete.

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The drive to finance nature projects to a high standard mirrors what businesses increasingly ask of the credits they buy: proof that each one rests on real, verified results. As accountability for emissions data tightens, the business case for measuring and reducing emissions grows stronger, and so does demand for carbon credits that can withstand the same scrutiny. Steady reductions still leave hard-to-abate emissions, and businesses preparing for this shift need a dependable supply they can stand behind — credits that are verified, traceable, and backed by real environmental results. Green Earth provides that supply, giving businesses access to high-integrity carbon credits from nature-based carbon projects that restore ecosystems and support local communities, so you can meet rising expectations for quality with confidence.