Cape Town doesn’t ease you in gently. The landscape is immediate, with the mountain rising behind the city and the ocean stretching outward. It has a way of sharpening your perspective. But the climate ambition in Cape Town felt as expansive as the landscape. At the African Green Economy Summit (AGES) 2026 last week, the emphasis was not on whether Africa should transition, but on how (and how quickly) that transition can become investable, inclusive, and delivery focused.  

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There was a great deal of discussion about trust. In high-level dialogues hosted by VUKA Group and The Global Trust Project, speakers returned repeatedly to the idea that trust is not a soft concept but a financial prerequisite. As was observed during a session chaired in part by Lerato Mbele, trust is the currency that will fund the future.

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That idea stayed with me. Because trust, in many respects, functions like infrastructure. Without it, capital stalls. With it, partnerships accelerate, risk perceptions shift, and long-term investment becomes possible.

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Conversations with Carl Roothman of Sanlam Investments, alongside municipal leadership from the City of Cape Town, underscored the enabling role of capital markets and city-level governance in translating ambition into pipelines. National commitments set direction, but it is often local policy, procurement frameworks, and institutional coordination that turn climate goals into bankable projects and real action.

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A keynote address from Narend Singh reinforced the need for practical implementation frameworks: systems that outlast political cycles and deliver measurable outcomes. This pragmatism was echoed by Matsi Modise of the World Climate Foundation, who urged participants to move beyond rhetoric: let’s not be poets, but plumbers, willing to get our hands dirty in the mechanics of delivery.

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If trust formed one pillar of the conversation, capability formed another. Across dialogues with partners including the United Nations Development Programme and the Africa Sustainable Finance Forum, a recurring theme emerged: finance alone does not create transformation. Africa may be able to borrow capital, but it cannot (and should not) indefinitely import capability.

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This distinction is critical. A just transition is not only defined by gigawatts installed or hectares restored, it is defined by how this translates into local outcomes: whether local institutions strengthen, whether local expertise deepens, and whether green investment translates into quality employment at a local level. As was rightly noted in discussion, green capital does not automatically produce good jobs. Intentionality in design matters.

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I was particularly inspired by my fellow panelists in a session exploring how women are shaping investment, innovation, and implementation across Africa’s green and blue economy. Too often, women are framed as passive beneficiaries of climate action. The evidence and the lived experience of those onstage with me highlighted the very opposite: active women’s leadership delivering real solutions.

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We know that, when women are embedded across the climate value chain, from project origination to finance structuring to monitoring and verification, outcomes improve. Environmental integrity strengthens. Social impact broadens. Market credibility deepens. Inclusion, therefore, is foundational to resilient projects and trustworthy carbon markets. When asked why women should be considered important actors in tackling climate change, I had to ask: why on earth they would not?

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My main takeaways from AGES were a strong sense of both climate risk and of incredible energy, enthusiasm and creativity generating investable solutions. Africa is home to abundant renewable resources, nature-based agency, entrepreneurial dynamism, and increasingly purpose-driven financial actors. The opportunity to leapfrog legacy energy and development models is real, and it is being shaped by African policymakers, investors, and innovators themselves. I am determined that we at OCW do more to support this.

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I was also struck by the consistent emphasis on practical delivery. In main-stage discussions, in energising project pitches connecting innovators directly with capital, and in structured “matchmaking” opportunities, encouraging participants to explore specific partnerships, the tone was pragmatic and operational.

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Cape Town, in all its natural drama, felt like an apt setting for that realisation. I felt energised to be surrounded by African actors helping define and shape the global green transition. If the mood and momentum I witnessed at AGES 2026 is anything to go by, climate action will be grounded in trust, strengthened by capability, and guided by inclusive leadership.

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