By Atoyebi Nike
The African Green Economy and Sustainability Initiative (AGESI) made a landmark debut at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, positioning itself as a leading force in advancing sustainable finance and development on the continent.
Dr. Eugene Itua, Executive Director of AGESI and CEO of Natural Eco Capital, told participants at a side event themed “Developing the Finance Stack for Restoring African Ecosystems” that Africa must reframe nature as its most valuable economic asset, worth an estimated $1.4 trillion annually.
“For too long, financing nature has been seen as a burden. But this is not a cost, it is our single greatest economic opportunity,” Dr. Itua said, introducing AGESI’s Green Opportunity Index (GOI), a data-driven tool designed to guide investors and policymakers toward the most viable green economy prospects.
The session, moderated by Theresa Reisch of FSD Africa, featured leading conservation finance experts, including Muhtari Aminu-Kano of The Nature Conservancy, Tim Bromfield of Conservation International, Fiona Napier of Nature Finance, and Ariana Day Yuen of Forested.
AGESI also held a high-level bilateral meeting with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) officials, signaling potential collaboration on resilience and sustainable development strategies across Africa.
