AGES 2026: Unlocking new nature finance via the Sustainable Finance Coalition

Sustainable Finance Coalition collaborates with governments, financial institutions and conservation partners to scale innovations

In this exclusive interview ahead of the fourth Africa Green Economy Summit (AGES) in Cape Town, Candice Stevens, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Finance Coalition explains how her organisation develops tailored finance solutions to unlock sustainable funding for nature across Africa. 

What the Sustainable Finance Coalition does

Using its “find, design, mobilise” model, SFC collaborates with governments, financial institutions and conservation partners to scale innovations such as impact funds and biodiversity credits.

Active in 15 countries, it promotes high-integrity credits through initiatives like the African Buyers Club. 

Stevens highlights challenges including terminology gaps, sector coordination, risk appetite and balancing impact with returns. She sees Africa’s vast natural wealth as a catalyst for green growth and sustainable economic transformation.

“I have the privilege of leading the Sustainable Finance Coalition as its CEO and founder. What we do is to unpack tailor-made finance solutions for nature, and we do this in a cross-collaborative way across the African continent. It’s really an exciting space to think about the role of nature finance.” 

Why Africa is crucial for the sector

“Africa has an incredible amount of biodiversity some amazing landscapes and seascapes, but they do require sustainable flows of finance to fully flourish. And that is exactly the role of the Sustainable Finance Coalition. 

“We partner with nature’s custodians, we partner with financial institutions to be able to determine what are the most viable finance solutions at our disposal that we can create, innovate, design and develop and ensure that they reach the people and places that need it the most.

“It’s an emerging sector and a space that allows us to really push the boundaries of our understanding when we think about nature finance and its role. Our goals at the Sustainable Finance Coalition are to increase the amount of sustainable finance available for Africa’s people and places, and really to be able to put the sustainable use of our resources front and centre. 

“We have many, many countries across the African continent with an amazing array of natural wealth. But how do we make sure that they’re utilising it in the most appropriate way; that we’re thinking about growing emerging economies?

“And this is exactly why Africa’s Green Economy Summit is such an important discussion point and why nature finance plays such an important role. The coalition is there to be able to showcase exactly what is possible when we innovate for solutions around nature finance.”

Different financial solutions via Sustainable Finance Coalition

In terms of the projects her company is involved in, Stevens said: “We have an incredible array of different finance solutions that we’re currently working on; everything from impact funds to outcomes funds, tax incentives to biodiversity credits and much more. These are all captured within the Sustainable Finance Coalition’s inventory of finance solutions.

“It’s an open source platform for anybody to use to see exactly what’s out there from a nature finance innovation point of view. But all of these finance solutions come from one primary source, and that’s the finance model that the coalition uses. We have a three-part finance model that we work together with different stakeholders across the African continent to use to develop these tailor-made solutions. 

“Our finance model, very simply, is find, design and mobilise. How do we find the most viable finance solutions for a specific conservation need, a green economy boost, or a specific intervention that needs to happen in a certain sector? How do we then design those viable finance solutions in a way that is practical, that we can implement them, build out those funds, instruments and mechanisms? And importantly, how do we mobilise the social and financial capital to take these new innovations to scale?

Critical discussions at Africa’s Green Economy Summit

“Our finance model is being applied across 15 African countries and the southwest Indian oceans with an enormous array of partners. We see 17 different types of finance solutions at a typology level replicated 65 times across this enormous footprint. 

“It’s an incredibly exciting space to be in to see the finance model working in so many different places with so many different types of people starting to unlock those new and exciting sustainable flows of finance for nature.

“Some of those finance solutions are going to be on display at the Africa’s Green Economy Summit and importantly some key discussions around impact funds for the blue economy, discussions around the African Buyers Club for biodiversity credits, and so I invite participants to really dive into the inventory and see what are the new innovations coming off our continent.”

In terms of Africa’s importance for the future of high-integrity biodiversity credit markets, Stevens said: “The continent really offers us a space of innovation, a space to pioneer, to push the boundaries of our understanding around nature finance. And biodiversity credits is just one of those examples.

“There are going to be some critical discussions taking place at the summit. But importantly, these discussions are happening in many parts of the world and in many different forums in Africa.”

Stephens will be the facilitator of a workshop on Biodiversity Credits at AGES on Tuesday 24 February at 1pm. You can find out more on the event website. ESI

Cover photo:  Candice Stevens, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Finance Coalition. Sources: AGES