Local weather Finance Accelerator (CFA) South Africa, funded by the UK Authorities, has opened its fourth name for proposals. The programme helps the event and financing of low-carbon tasks that contribute to South Africa’s transition to a net-zero economic system.
Who can apply?
We’re inviting purposes from companies and venture builders with tasks in:
- vitality
- transport
- waste administration
- water
- sustainable agriculture
Tasks should:
- have accomplished a full feasibility research
- require a minimal funding of USD $3 million
Software interval
Functions are open from 10 December 2025 to six February 2026.
What assist is out there?
The CFA helps make local weather tasks extra bankable and engaging to buyers by offering tailor-made assist. Chosen companies will profit from group workshops and one-to-one steering from monetary, technical, and gender equality, incapacity and social inclusion specialists, rising their probabilities of securing funding.
Why this issues
The G20 Leaders’ Declaration from the November 2025 Johannesburg Summit explicitly helps efforts to mobilise private and non-private finance for simply vitality transitions in creating nations. This dedication was a key precedence of the South African G20 Presidency, aiming to deal with the numerous funding gaps in sustainable vitality infrastructure, significantly in Africa. The CFA is a transparent instance of a programme that immediately helps this dedication and contributes on to the UK’s JETP pledge.
Since its launch, CFA South Africa has already facilitated near $100 million in local weather finance throughout its first three iterations. For particulars on previous successes, go to the Nationwide Enterprise Initiative (NBI) web site.
British Excessive Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, mentioned:
I’m delighted that CFA South Africa is now open for purposes. This vastly profitable programme has already supported a few of the nation’s most revolutionary low-carbon companies, with over $100 million invested in CFA alumni.
As a part of the UK–South Africa partnership on local weather change, together with via the Simply Vitality Transition Partnership, the newest part of the CFA is one other demonstrable instance of the UK’s continued dedication to assist a good and inclusive shift to a sustainable, low-carbon future.
Kailas Nair, Chief Development Officer, Plentify (CFA SA 2023 cohort), mentioned:
The CFA group helped us refine our capital-raising technique and facilitated introductions to key buyers and stakeholders within the vitality sector. We discovered the programme invaluable and would advocate it to different startups in South Africa.
Shameela Soobramoney, CEO, Nationwide Enterprise Initiative mentioned:
South Africa wants daring, investment-ready local weather options, and the Local weather Finance Accelerator stays one of the crucial efficient platforms for serving to low-carbon enterprise strengthen their bankability. This new name for proposals is an opportunity to speed up impression and safe the funding wanted to scale.
I encourage all eligible low-carbon venture builders, particularly these innovating in vitality, water, transport, waste and sustainable agriculture, to use. With the fitting assist and funding, these tasks can ship actual financial, social and local weather positive aspects for our nation.
Mike Mulcahy, CEO of GreenCape mentioned:
GreenCape is happy to see which firms and options emerge from this fourth iteration of CFA SA. The programme is a sensible option to channel extra funding into inexperienced tech firms that create jobs and progress. As CFA expands globally, sharing classes throughout nations will make it much more efficient.
Additional info
Over the previous three CFA SA iterations, 43 tasks have obtained capacity-building assist, together with technical and monetary coaching.
Direct engagement with native and worldwide buyers has led to funding choices exceeding $100 million.
Watch: Earlier CFA SA cohort
The Local weather Finance Accelerator (CFA) is a technical help programme funded by Worldwide Local weather Finance (ICF), via the UK Authorities’s Division for Vitality Safety and Internet Zero (DESNZ). The CFA is applied in ten nations (Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand and Viet Nam) and is working to develop a sustainable pipeline of bankable, low carbon tasks in every nation. The CFA is a part of the UK’s efforts to assist local weather motion on a worldwide scale, facilitating entry to finance and serving to governments obtain local weather targets below the Paris Settlement. It’s applied in South Africa by the Nationwide Enterprise Initiative (NBI) and GreenCape because the in-country companions, supported by PwC UK.
CFA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/firm/climate-finance-accelerator-cfa/
The Nationwide Enterprise Initiative (NBI) is a voluntary coalition of firms, working in direction of a resilient and inclusive economic system, constructing belief to allow implementation and enhancing the capability of their stakeholders to take part in financial and social transformation. The NBI’s membership features a vital proportion of the nation’s main listed firms, a lot of the foremost state-owned enterprises and a wide range of medium-sized companies. Since their inception in 1995, the NBI has made a definite impression within the spheres of local weather change, water, vitality effectivity, native financial improvement, public sector capability constructing, additional training and coaching, public non-public partnerships and extra lately within the social transformation sphere.
NBI LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/firm/national-business-initiative/
GreenCape is a non-profit organisation that drives the widespread adoption of economically viable inexperienced economic system options from South Africa. The group works with companies, buyers, academia and authorities to unlock the funding and employment potential of inexperienced applied sciences and companies, and to assist a transition to a resilient inexperienced economic system. GreenCape’s imaginative and prescient is to create a thriving and affluent Africa utilizing inexperienced economic system rules. Our goal is to be globally related in driving the uptake of inexperienced economic system infrastructure options within the creating world context.
GreenCape LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/firm/green-cape/
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