SEO Riders
– Abiy Ahmed Calls for “Climate Investment, Not Aid,” at Africa Climate Summit 2025
– Proposes Compact to Deliver 1,000 Homegrown Climate Solutions by 2030
– Emphasis on Africa-Led Innovation, Data Sovereignty & Shared Prosperity
In his keynote at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa (September 8–10, 2025), Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed the urgent need to shift from traditional aid models to global climate investment, particularly in Africa. He highlighted that Africa should be viewed not as a recipient of assistance, but as a visionary partner: “We ask our global partners to invest with us… not to fund us because we are impacted, but to turn vision into reality.” The summit’s theme—“Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development”—underscores the ambition to mobilize collaboration that amplifies the continent’s natural assets, human talent, and innovation ecosystems.
To catalyze transformative action, Abiy unveiled the African Climate Innovation Compact—a bold, continent-wide initiative that will unite universities, research institutions, startups, rural communities, and innovators. The goal: to deliver 1,000 African-built climate solutions by 2030, spanning critical sectors like energy, agriculture, water, transport, and resilience. Significantly, the Compact also asserts climate data sovereignty, empowering Africa to map forests, measure carbon, and define the value of its ecosystems—ushering in a paradigm where “climate data is not just science, it is the new currency of power.”