Telesto Strategy hosts investors

US-based Telesto Strategy hosted investors for a working session in Accra as part of the US State Department's visit to Ghana to explore partnership and investment opportunities for the two countries around ESG, Climate Finance, and Private Sector Development.

In attendance was a select group of Ghana's local experts and leaders in the spheres of Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, SME Business Development Services, Technical Assistance, and International Development Finance including British International Investment (BII), Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), Impact Hub Accra, Good Soil VC, ScaleUp Africa, Academic City, Norfund and Development Bank Ghana.

Many of these organizations are actively advising and delivering initiatives that center on Sustainability, ESG, and Climate which most boards, governments, consumers, and communities are increasingly concerned about.

The multi-sectorial convening was part of the U.S. State Department’s Partnership Opportunity Delegation (POD), which brought together senior decision-makers to explore pragmatic solutions to attracting and growing climate finance in Ghana.

Part of the U.S. State Department’s Connecting Climate Entrepreneurs (CCE) initiative, the POD spent time with Ghana's new generation of industry experts to cultivate an array of partnership models to advance climate innovation, enterprise, and entrepreneurship.

"Despite its sizeable potential and its outsized exposure to the effects of climate change, Africa receives less than 5% of global climate investment, and its annual climate financing need is nearly ten times larger than actual flows. Seeds of recent activity on the continent, however, are beginning to provide cause for hope.

Several African nations are making clear strides to reduce carbon emissions without undermining economic growth. South Africa, for example, which generates 80% of its electricity from coal, just received international commitments worth $8.5B to catalyze its shift to renewable energy, of which the United States alone committed $1B.

The Democratic Republic of Congo just received funding of $500M dedicated to protecting the Congo Basin rainforest, which represents 10% of the world’s tropical rainforests by land and absorbs 4% of global CO2 emissions annually." Skeptics are keen to follow these pledges and will no doubt be looking out for the actual implementation of these projects.

According to Telesto "As the world continues to grapple with climate change, private and public sector actors look for investable opportunities to prevent and combat its deleterious effects. Indeed, from 2013 to 2020, global climate investments nearly doubled from $365B to $631B, with a series of high-profile investments (e.g., €86B invested in solar and wind power in the E.U., $41B invested in large-scale solar projects in China, $14.5B invested in renewable energy in India) have led the way.

However, in spite of climate financing’s meteoric rise in recent years, the world is still far behind the $3-6T leading experts estimate is needed to stave off the worst of climate change."

To take full advantage of funding opportunities to fight Climate Change and create jobs in this emerging space stakeholders - Governments, Investors, Development Organisations, Philanthropy, Corporate, and Ventures - must understand the barriers to unlocking catalytic and climate finance which namely:

- Improving the packaging of investable opportunities, respecting local experts

- the “on the ground” experience and connections they bring

- Truly engaging and investing in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through leading local knowledge partners and organizations in Ghana like Impact Investing Ghana, Impact Hub, ScaleUp Africa, and Songhai Advisory
Align risk appetites and find creative ways to manage risk-return expectations
Support unrestricted, flexible, and non-collateral-based financing instruments and structures

- Invest in Investor Readiness, Technical Assistance, Business Development services, and tools provided by local partners to help attract investment.