Ghana has earned recognition as one of Africa’s stronger performers in climate resilience planning, but a critical funding gap threatens to undermine the country’s ambitious adaptation goals, according to a major new assessment released this week.
The Global Center on Adaptation’s first ever Resilient Economies Index for Africa, published Wednesday, October 16, ranked Ghana as “Robust” overall, with particularly impressive “Pioneering” status for its economic resilience framework. However, the country scored only “Consolidating” on finance, exposing a widening chasm between what Ghana wants to achieve and what it can actually afford to implement.
The rankings place Ghana ahead of regional peers like Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, reflecting deliberate government efforts over the past decade to embed climate adaptation into agriculture, energy, and infrastructure planning. Ghana’s “Robust” policy score signals that the country has developed comprehensive frameworks, from renewable energy strategies to national adaptation plans, demonstrating clear institutional readiness to tackle climate challenges head on.
Yet these achievements come with a sobering reality check. Ghana’s high debt levels and limited fiscal space make it extremely difficult to raise or attract the funds needed to transform policies into tangible projects that protect communities and livelihoods. The “Consolidating” finance rating tells the story of a nation with strong blueprints but shallow pockets.
The index assessed 54 African countries across three pillars measuring economic resilience, policy frameworks, and financial capacity. It introduces a new metric called Gross Resilient Product, which estimates the share of national economic output protected from climate shocks. Top performing countries have managed to shield roughly 95 percent of their GDP from climate risks, setting a benchmark for what’s achievable.
Ten African economies achieved the highest “Pioneering” classification across all categories, including Kenya and Uganda, which lead the continent in both ambition and financial execution. These East African nations demonstrate what’s possible when strong policies meet adequate funding streams. Countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique also performed well, earning “Pioneering” or “Robust” scores in multiple areas.
At the lower end sit nations like Liberia, Guinea Bissau, and Djibouti, still building basic frameworks for climate resilience. This wide performance gap reflects Africa’s uneven progress in preparing for increasingly severe weather events, droughts, floods, and other climate impacts.
The report highlights what it calls an “ambition action gap” plaguing African nations. Forty countries scored above 50 percent on policy measures, showing improved national adaptation frameworks and clearer priorities. Governments increasingly consult local communities and vulnerable groups when shaping plans. However, only fourteen countries reached the same threshold on finance, revealing how policy progress is racing far ahead of funding capacity.
For Ghana specifically, this means the country has laid solid groundwork through planning and institutional development, but risks seeing its climate resilience agenda stall without substantial increases in funding. The challenge mirrors Ghana’s broader economic situation, where fiscal constraints limit the government’s ability to invest in critical areas despite having well developed strategies.
The index estimates that current adaptation finance mobilization across Africa sits roughly 60 to 75 percent below what’s needed for countries to reach their full resilience potential. Every African economy would need to mobilize around $1.45 billion annually, matching today’s top performer, compared with an average of just $340 million per year across the continent. Even leading countries are undershooting their needs by 30 to 230 percent depending on the benchmark used.
A particularly troubling finding shows that 62 percent of Africa’s adaptation finance comes through debt, creating what the report calls a “debt wall” where rising interest obligations crowd out the very investments needed to build resilience. This overreliance on borrowing affects even strong policy performers like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana, limiting their ability to translate adaptation plans into adequately financed action.
Private capital remains largely untapped, accounting for just 3.7 percent of adaptation finance in Africa. Only eleven countries exceed a 5 percent private sector share, well below the 37 to 39 percent seen in South and East Asia. Without a major shift toward non debt financing, concessional loans, and influxes of private capital, Africa risks funding its resilience through mechanisms that ultimately undermine fiscal sustainability.
Ghana recently participated in a masterclass on Climate Resilient Infrastructure Public Private Partnerships hosted by the Global Center on Adaptation in Accra from October 14 to 17, bringing together government officials and development partners to explore ways to strengthen resilience in infrastructure investments. The National Infrastructure Risk and Resilience Program developed for Ghana proposes 35 adaptation options for funders and investors, offering evidence based projects to help channel resources toward climate proofing the country’s development.
The index’s creators emphasize that Africa’s climate fight isn’t about lack of ideas but lack of funding. Ghana’s experience captures this reality perfectly: a nation with strong intent and policy readiness now needs the financial muscle to bring its resilience goals to life. The country’s “Pioneering” economic performance shows it understands how to integrate adaptation into growth strategies. The challenge is securing resources to execute those strategies at the scale required.
Experts say closing Ghana’s finance gap will require multiple approaches. These include improving coordination among government institutions, ensuring resources reach community level adaptation projects, strengthening systems to attract climate finance from international sources, and finding innovative ways to mobilize domestic resources despite fiscal constraints. Development partners and multilateral institutions will need to provide more grant based and concessional financing rather than adding to Ghana’s debt burden.
The Global Center on Adaptation report makes clear that Ghana stands at a crossroads common to many African nations. The country has done the hard work of planning and policy development, earning recognition for its foresight and institutional capacity. However, translating that groundwork into real world resilience that protects farmers, coastal communities, and urban residents from climate impacts depends on unlocking significantly more funding in the coming years.
Without adequate finance, Ghana’s comprehensive climate adaptation frameworks risk remaining aspirational documents rather than lived realities for the millions of Ghanaians whose livelihoods and safety depend on the country’s ability to withstand climate shocks. The ambition is there. The question is whether the money will follow.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
