International carbon projects in Africa have the potential to provide increased investments and cash flows for poverty alleviation. This review covers 19 carbon sequestration projects across 16 African countries. Beyond the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, the potential benefits of these projects include local sustainable development, natural resource conservation, protection of valuable biodiversity, and ecological restoration. However, carbon projects in Africa currently constitute less than three percent of the international trade in carbon offsets. International investors should make greater efforts to identify good projects in the region, while the host countries need to provide mechanisms for more secure property rights, improve institutions for natural resource governance, and build institutional capacity for project design and implementation, in order to attract more carbon investments.

Publication date
Type of publication
Document
Objective
Mitigation
Collection
Eldis
CTCN Keyword Matches
Africa