CrossBoundary supporting climate finance initiatives in Malawi

Since March 2024, we have focused our efforts on developing a climate finance landscape and roadmap for Malawi. We identified barriers and opportunities for scaling up climate finance in Malawi, alongside tangible transactions and interventions that USAID can support. Malawi represents a unique and strategic opportunity for climate finance development in Africa. With its rich biodiversity, agricultural potential, and pressing climate challenges, Malawi is a microcosm of the continent’s climate finance needs.  

Group photo from ATI & CrossBoundary two-day training in Lilongwe, Malawi

Kirtika Challa, Head of Power and Infrastructure Advisory, highlighted the critical situation in Malawi. She noted that the country has one of the lowest electrification rates in Africa, at approximately 20%, and about 70% of its population lives below the international poverty line. Malawi’s vulnerability to climate change has been starkly demonstrated by recent extreme weather events, including Cyclone Freddy in 2023, which had devastating consequences. 

Funded by the USAID ATI Mechanism, CrossBoundary’s Climate Finance support to the USAID Malawi Mission over the last few months included: 

1. On-the-ground assessment: Kirtika Challa (Managing Director, Head of Power & Infrastructure (P&I)), Christine Livet (Associate Principal, Natural Capital), and Daniel Zea (Analyst on the P&I team) conducted a climate finance landscape assessment in Malawi. They engaged stakeholders from various sectors, including clean energy, sustainable agriculture, and landscape protection and restoration. The team also collaborated with Elizabeth Molloy, Director at C12 Consultants, a locally based consulting firm. 
2. Developing a climate finance strategy and toolkit: CrossBoundary developed a framework for the USAID Mission for identifying and prioritizing high-potential climate finance transactions for potential support, based on criteria such as commercial feasibility, capital mobilization, and impact potential. 
3. Interactive training: In September 2024, CrossBoundary Advisory partnered with ATI to deliver a two-day training in Lilongwe. The sessions covered insights on barriers and opportunities for scaling climate finance in Malawi, increasing Malawi’s access to multilateral climate funds like the Green Climate Fund, as well as carbon finance. Attendees included representatives from USAID Malawi, USAID implementing partners, the Malawian government, other donors and the private sector. 

About USAID’s work in Malawi  

USAID’s work in Malawi aims at advancing integrated solutions designed to mobilize Malawi’s private sector to achieve inclusive, resilient, and sustainable wealth generation to significantly increase and mobilize innovative private sector-led climate financing through new partnerships and consortiums. These partnerships and consortiums will help address land, watershed, and forest restoration, and conserve Malawi’s natural capital and key biodiversity resources through payment for ecosystem services, green value chains, climate-positive business investments and trade, and a blue carbon approach for Lake Malawi.