By Samuel Ouma*
From Nairobi, where she oversees IFC’s operations across Eastern Africa, Mary Porter Peschka is leading a bold push to turn climate challenges into engines of growth. As Regional Director for IFC, she is driving investments that blend sustainability with opportunity—mobilizing private capital, expanding renewable energy, building resilient food systems, and helping governments and businesses adapt to a warming world. In this insightful conversation with Pan African Visions, Peschka unpacks how IFC’s climate strategy is reshaping markets, financing innovation, and positioning Africa at the forefront of the global green economy.
Mary, could you start by sharing IFC’s overall vision to address the environmental challenges confronting Africa today?
Central to IFC’s and the broader World Bank Group’s mission to end poverty on a livable planet is helping people and communities build resilience, access reliable services, create jobs, and prepare for challenges that can disrupt lives and livelihoods . The World Bank Group is committed to meeting the needs of its developing countries and private firms and investors in those countries, who are asking for climate finance, seeing it as smart development for their unique situations. To respond, the Bank Group is directing 45% of its financing to development projects with climate benefits. Adaptation builds resilience with durable roads, flood-resistant infrastructure, and water-efficient irrigation. Simple, cost-effective solutions deliver an outsized impact.
Mitigation cuts emissions. It means investing in an energy mix, and extending beyond energy to sectors like agriculture, where better practices can cut methane, and transportation, where shifting freight from roads to rail can lower carbon footprints.
In Africa, this means investing in projects that reduce emissions, improve and strengthen agricultural yields, and provide resilient infrastructure, among others. We also advise governments and private sector firms on how they can best mitigate and adapt to shifting weather patterns.
From your perspective, what are the most pressing and environmental challenges facing Eastern Africa today?
Extreme weather events are increasing frequently and threaten livelihoods and national economies in East Africa and other regions. For East Africa specifically, this often results in devastating floods and droughts that disrupt food production and worsen food insecurity. We help farmers and food sector companies in the region to adapt to changing weather patterns by investing in more resilient crops and modern irrigation systems. Another often overlooked issue is weather insurance, which is crucial for farmers affected by weather-related disasters. IFC supports projects that expand access to weather insurance across Africa.
How is IFC supporting countries and businesses in Africa to transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies?
We do this through a combination of investments and advisory services. We invest directly in projects, mobilize funding, and provide advice to governments and private businesses.We also build local capacity and develop sustainable finance standards to inspire investor confidence. We support projects that benefit farmers, provide easily accessible renewable power, such as off-grid solar, and help the construction industry build more sustainable structures, from homes and office buildings to hospitals and airports.
Could you give us examples of flagship climate projects IFC has funded or supported in the region?
In Tanzania, IFC anchored two green and sustainability bonds to finance inclusive development. In October 2023, IFC subscribed to almost 30 percent of CRDB Bank Plc’s first green bond, equivalent to $20 million in Tanzanian shillings. In December 2023, IFC subscribed to 16 percent of NMB Bank’s Tanzanian shilling and U.S. dollar-denominated sustainability bond, equivalent to $25 million in Tanzanian shillings. Proceeds from the bonds are financing a range of projects in Tanzania that will help protect the environment, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to socially responsible initiatives, including solar energy , cleaner cooking, green buildings with better water and power efficiencies, clean transport, and affordable housing projects.
IFC is known for leveraging private sector financing—how is this approach helping to close the gap in terms of sustainability financing in Africa?
For context, the World Energy Outlook Special Report (September 2023) shows that Africa will need around $133 billion annually in clean energy investment to meet its energy and climate goals between 2026 and 2030. Africa’s clean energy investment needs to more than doubleto meet the required annual target. Private sector funding must, therefore, be an essential part of any strategy to help Africa adapt to and mitigate the effects of global warming.
How is IFC integrating innovative financing models, such as blended finance and sustainability bonds, to attract more investments in Africa?
Concessional or blended financing is sometimes used for projects with climate benefits. By concessional or blended, I mean financing for projects in the form of grants or loans provided at more affordable rates.
IFC mobilizes and intermediates concessional finance through partnerships that support our clients’ ambitions to transition to a low-carbon future. This type of financing helps investors manage the higher risks or uncertainties associated with new technologies or first-of-their-kind projects.
Sustainability bonds help to raise funds to finance projects with a positive environmental impact. By the end of FY24, IFC had issued over $13.9 billion in 207 green bonds globally across 21 currencies. In Africa, for example, IFC and partners reached the first close of a $150 million solar bond in 2024 to finance solar energy (including rooftop solar) and energy storage projects throughout Africa.
What role do partnerships with governments, the private sector, and development partners play in advancing this agenda?
Because environmental considerations touch across most economic sectors, partnerships are essential. This means government policy, private sector funding and know-how, and support from development institutions like IFC and others must combine to deliver the solutions we need.
For context, the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (IHLEG) estimates that developing countries, excluding China, will need to invest $2.4 trillion annually in climate projects by 2030 —rising to $3.1–3.5 trillion by 2035. These large amounts can only be delivered by strong partnerships and shared visions.
Let me give you just one example of a strong partnership for development in Africa in action. In Egypt, IFC, alongside UAE, Japanese, Dutch, and private sector commercial bank partners, invested more than $1 billion to support the construction and operation of wind and solar plants in Egypt that will deliver power to an estimated 1 million people. This complex, costly, and impactful project with AMEA Power was only possible because of the power of partnerships. As part of this project, the 500MW Abydos Solar PV Plant was commissioned in Egypt in December 2024.
Which sectors—such as renewable energy, agriculture, water, or urban development—are receiving the most attention from IFC in terms of climate financing?
These are interrelated, so renewable energy could be applied to more sustainable agriculture production, for example, while resource management and sustainable urban development clearly go hand in hand, especially for many of Africa’s fast-growing cities. There is not one specific area that IFC is most focused on, though our overall impact and portfolio have been growing across all of those that you mentioned.
How is IFC addressing the nexus between climate change, food security, and sustainable agriculture in Eastern Africa?
Let me give an example of an IFC-supported project that illustrates this approach. IFC and One Acre Fund partnered in Kenya and in five other countries – Burundi, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania – to develop and roll out new insurance products tailored specifically to the needs of smallholder farmers, especially those in the low-income segment of the insurance market. Smallholder farmers constitute 70 percent of Africa’s population, but less than 3 percent of smallholder farmers are insured. Farming without insurance leaves many financially vulnerable in the face of shifting weather patterns, and farmers can face potentially staggering losses from droughts and floods. This insurance scheme protects livelihoods, boosts financial inclusion, and opens doors to credit for individuals and small agribusinesses.
Likewise, we have supported irrigation projects that protect farmers from drought, protect scarce water resources, and help ensure abundant crops. Projects like that illustrate the strong connection between solutions that address environmental and food security challenges.
What policy or regulatory reforms are needed to unlock more private sector investments in climate solutions in Africa, and how does IFC work with governments to create an enabling environment?
IFC collaborates directly with African governments to understand a country’s environmental challenges and opportunities, and how private sector financing and expertise can best foster positive change and resilience – with strong economic impact. Often, governments seek greater private sector involvement in energy, water, or infrastructure projects, but need assistance in attracting funding. For example, in Rwanda, IFC helped launch the country’s Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Plan in June. This plan highlights about $335 million in potential private sector investments in projects designed to enhance food production, support food security, and create jobs.
Over the long term, the plan aims to expand and mainstream climate-smart agriculture investments, including water supply and irrigation, resilient planting and replanting, post-harvest loss reduction, resilient livestock development, and improved soil health. Also, as part of the World Bank Group-led Mission 300 Project to bring power to 300 million more people in Africa by 2030, a dozen African governments have published National Energy Compacts, which outline strategies, targets, and timelines for expanding sustainable energy infrastructure. Countries taking part include Chad, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania, among others.
Over the next few years, IFC will play a central role in Mission 300, an initiative led by the World Bank Group and African Development Bank that is convening African governments, the private sector, and development partners to deliver affordable power, expand electricity access, boost utility efficiency, attract private investment, and improve regional energy integration that drives economic transformation. The goal is to connect 300 million more people in Africa to electricity by 2030 – an ambitious target and one where the private sector will be pivotal. IFC will support innovative finance models, including through public-private partnerships and our upstream activities, where we conduct proactive, early-stage market and project preparation. This is an increasingly important part of our work in Africa. We will also provide advisory services to help clients enhance resilience and develop tools, standards, and insights to guide investment decisions in risk management. Underpinning all this work is developing and strengthening partnerships to multiply the impact of our work on the continent.
Finally, what message would you like to share with African leaders and businesses who attended the African Climate Summit 2025?
Africa has a real opportunity to lead in smart solutions and development. By working together, we can attract private sector investment into projects that will create positive, lasting effects on African communities and businesses.
*Culled from November Issue of PAV Magazine .
