Responding to strong interest from West African policymakers in blue economy financial products, the World Bank Group (WBG)’s Sustainable Finance Knowledge Center (SFKC) for Africa is strengthening its efforts to build the region’s readiness for investment.
The SFKC held a series of activities focused on the pathways towards this goal. A market sounding and stakeholder mapping exercise in May 2026 identified priority capacity-building needs, key ecosystem actors, and potential opportunities to strengthen both the supply of and demand for blue finance. At the July 2026 Steering Committee meeting of the West Africa Coastal Areas Plus Management (WACA) Program (WACA+) policymakers highlighted the SFKC’s potential contribution. As a regional platform for knowledge sharing and capacity building, the SFKC aims to channel capital toward activities that support sustainable development while integrating climate-related risks and opportunities into financial decision-making. Its involvement could help strengthen regional leadership and accelerate climate action. The feedback of the Steering Committee is helping to shape the next phase of SFKC support under WACA+, which will focus on expanding access to finance, strengthening market readiness, and fostering sustainable investment in the region’s blue economy.
An initiative of the WBG’s Climate Department, the SFKC is supported by the Compact with Africa-Green Business Fund (CwA-GBF), IFC Green Bond Technical Assistance (GB-TAP), and other partners. The CwA-GBF is an associated trust fund to the Partnership for Market Implementation (PMI) and helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in 15 Africa countries build capacity to access climate finance at scale, including through the SFKC, which equips financial institutions and other firms with the tools to transition towards sustainable finance models.
Benin exemplifies the region’s need for practical tools for the public and private sectors, including SME stakeholders, to tap the potential of the blue economy, and SFKC’s support in response. Financial institutions in Benin are increasingly seeking to mobilize, deploy, and monitor sustainable capital to support the country’s efforts towards climate resilience. While awareness of sustainable finance has expanded in recent years, operational barriers continue to limit the sector’s ability to translate ambition into investment.
Many banks in Benin are seeking practical pathways to move from broad commitments on sustainability to concrete products, transactions, and investment decisions. A four-day training event organized by the SFKC in November 2025 - the first of its kind for Benin’s banking sector – outlined potential paths forward including laying the foundation for the roll-out and implementation of key policy and regulatory reforms. Event participants learned how to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into their operations and financing decisions, with particular emphasis placed on strengthening the capacity of financial institutions to better serve SMEs, support job creation, and direct capital toward sustainable projects.
Government representatives emphasized the banking sector’s increasing centrality to Benin’s ecological transition strategy and the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The recent reforms, notably the development of a national green taxonomy and a Green Financing Framework, will help channel investment toward priority sectors and create a stronger enabling environment for sustainable finance.
The SFKC builds on this outreach. Plans for the coming months include targeted capacity building for blue economy SMEs and technical assistance and training for financial institutions and other financing actors in Benin. Future efforts will benefit from continued collaboration with the Bankers Association of Benin and partners such as the Global Green Growth Institute, the West African Development Bank (BOAD), and the Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union under the aegis of Benin’s Ministry of Economy and Finance. The program also hopes to expand to other countries expected to participate in subsequent phases of WACA+, such as Togo and Cabo Verde.
By building the capacity of both enterprises and lenders, SFKC’s efforts aim to facilitate access to financing that is sustainable, appropriate, and responsive to the needs of coastal communities.
