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– Nigeria Spends Just 19% of Climate Finance Received Between 2015-2021
- – Loans, Not Grants, Dominate Climate Funds; Weak Policies and Enforcement to Blame
- – Media & Public Education Urged to Close Awareness Gap and Demand Accountability
A report titled “The State of Climate Finance in Nigeria” (Dec 2024) by Connected Development (CODE) and Oxfam reveals that Nigeria received approximately $4.928 billion between 2015-2021 for climate projects but invested only 19% of it in effective climate action. That’s a climate finance deficit of 81%, despite an average of $704 million in inflows per year across about 118 projects annually. Actors at a media parley in Abuja—including CODE, Oxfam, civil society, and media personalities—warned that this under-investment is undermining Nigeria’s ability to meet climate goals. They pointed to weak policy enforcement and over-reliance on loans rather than grants as major hurdles.
Stakeholders stressed the importance of empowering communities with knowledge and tools to deliver “climate results,” calling for enhanced environmental education, better media engagement, and strengthened policy implementation. Hyeladzira Msheila (Acting CEO of CODE) emphasized that awareness gaps are large and that journalists and scientists must work together to demystify climate finance. Additionally, there was consensus that climate finance reporting must be transparent and that stakeholders—national, subnational, and communal—should be involved in decisions about how investments are used.