The Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE) has revealed that the Gashaka Gumti project has been selected, as one of four in its first cohort from over 100 applicants in 28 African nations, to get project feasibility and development support.

Gashaka Gumti is Nigeria’s largest biodiverse park, covering 600,000 hectares, and it contains one of West Africa’s last intact montane rainforests.

CAPE confirmed it’s working to bridge an estimated $598 billion and $824 billion funding gap for carbon markets across Africa.

Funded by FSD Africa, a UK-backed financial sector development agency, CAPE mobilises investment into nature-based carbon projects in Africa to reduce emissions, enhance sequestration, protect biodiversity, and deliver benefits for local communities.

It noted that with 62 percent of Africa’s GDP reliant on natural capital and a funding gap for biodiversity of $598 billion and $824 billion, it will build confidence in Africa’s carbon markets and catalyse investment by focusing on integrity projects with strong biodiversity outcomes backed by rigorous carbon methodologies.

“CAPE shows that Africa’s natural capital is not just a solution to the climate crisis, but a catalyst for tackling interconnected planetary challenges while unlocking fair and inclusive growth,” said Reshma Shah, Carbon Markets Lead at FSD Africa, as revealed in a statement.

“These projects go beyond generating carbon credits—they are blueprints for redefining how the world invests in and values nature”, Shah added.

The Gashaka Gumti Forest Carbon Project, led by Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation and Africa Carbon Partners, uses Assisted Natural Regeneration to protect ecosystems and species, including chimpanzees and pangolins.

It targets 12 million tonnes of carbon emissions removal while delivering community and biodiversity benefits, secured through a dedicated endowment fund. Working with local communities, the initiative is creating benefits and reducing pressures on the park.

Gashaka Gumti was chosen for its scalability and replicability to other parks. As a first nature-based carbon project in Nigeria, endorsed by the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), the team is setting the standard for best practice in the development of high-quality carbon initiatives in Nigeria’s nature-based carbon market.

Executive Director of ANI Foundation, Tunde Morakinyo, said: “We are working with the National Park Service of Nigeria on projects that deliver benefits to local communities around Gashaka Gumti National Park.

“These include rehabilitation of schools, scholarships, and micro-finance support for women-led SMEs focused on agri-processing.  Other interventions include support for farmers with beekeeping, agroforestry, and sustainable pastoralism activities.  However, this support has relied on philanthropy, which could dry up.” 

“This project will unlock sustainable financing from the park’s ecosystem services to expand projects listed above and more, increasing the benefits communities receive from protecting their forests”, Morakinyo further revealed.

The first four projects – from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia – will receive support to get them from the development phase to the investment phase.

They are:

• The Gashaka Gumti Forest Carbon Project: a project facilitating the natural regeneration of forests in Gashaka Gumti, Nigeria’s largest national park;
• Papariko Mangroves: a mangrove restoration project that spans the coastal areas of southeastern Kenya;
• Rubeho Mountains Carbon Project: a community-based forest protection and restoration project in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and;
• Barotse Rangelands for Restoration: a livestock enhancement and rangeland restoration project in Barotseland, Zambia

These four projects showcase the diverse scope of CAPE, and were chosen based on their stage of development, social and environmental impact potential, alignment with carbon buyer and investor preferences, and potential to replicate and scale-up. Their potential to deliver tangible benefits to communities was a particularly important criterion.

CAPE was launched in November 2024 by FSD Africa in partnership with the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA) and Finance Earth – a leading international environmental impact advisor and investor in nature, climate, and community projects – to address the lack of early-stage funding for nature-based carbon projects across Africa. 

CAPE aims to fill that gap by providing recoverable grant funding and tailored transaction advisory support necessary to advance projects to investment-readiness. Its partners strongly believe that by leveraging Africa’s nature as a powerful economic asset, there is a significant opportunity to advance local livelihoods, protect irreplaceable biodiversity and support climate resilience.