A New Milestone for the APIA Program: GCF Approves Benin’s Health Resilience Project

The Adaptation Projects Incubator for Africa (APIA) has marked a significant achievement with the approval of the project “Strengthening the Health Resilience of Communities Vulnerable to Climate Change in Benin’s ABD (Adjohoun, Bonou, and Dangbo) Zone” by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) during its 43rd Board meeting.

The project has a total budget of USD 9.1 million and is carried out by the Fonds National pour l'Environnement et le Climat (FNEC) of Benin. It was approved without conditions, and the Funded Activity Agreement (FAA) was signed during the same session, a rare distinction that underscores the project’s technical quality and Benin’s growing capacity as a Direct Access Entity (DAE).

The Benin Health Resilience Project aims to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities in the ABD Health zone, where recurrent flooding and climate-induced disease outbreaks threaten livelihoods and public health system. The project will strengthen health infrastructure, improve climate information and early warning systems, and build community preparedness against climate risks.

Technical Support under APIA: Building National Access to Climate Finance

Under the APIA Program, FNEC Benin benefited from tailored technical assistance throughout project development, submission, and approval cycle. Key components of the technical assistance include:

• development and improvement of the funding proposal full package, including the project document and 11 accompanying technical annexes;

• Technical gap-filling and risk analysis to reinforce the project’s climate rationale;

• One-on-one online support guiding FNEC through multiple rounds of GCF Secretariat and iTAP (Independant Technical Advisory Panel) reviews; and

• In-country and pre-Board advisory missions to ensure the proposal’s final readiness.

This structured, and co-creation approach exemplifies APIA’s mandate to strengthen African DAEs’ access to climate finance and transform readiness investments into tangible, country-led adaptation projects.

Scaling Up Impact Across the Continent

The approval of this project forms part of the GCF’s record-breaking year, which saw the Fund channel USD 3.26 billion in climate finance to developing countries, the highest annual total since its inception, including 22 new projects at B.43 advancing adaptation and mitigation efforts globally.

Beyond this first approved project, APIA’s incubator pipeline includes seven additional adaptation proposals under development, with a total value exceeding USD 168 million. These initiatives span sectors such as agriculture, ecosystem resilience, and urban adaptation, reinforcing the program’s role as a continental catalyst for adaptation finance.

About APIA

The APIA Program is one of Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI)'s flagship program supported by the European Union (EU). It's core objective is to enhance and scale up the level of adaptation finance flowing from multilateral climate funds to the continent. APIA provides hands-on, customized technical assistance to strengthen the capacities of Direct Access Entities (DAEs) accredited to the GCF and national and regional entities implementing projects under the Adaptation Fund. Its approach combines practical, results-oriented training programs with direct support for project development and submission.

Implemented by Sustainable Solutions for Africa (SSA), an African-based consulting firm serving as the program's technical arm, APIA enables African countries to prepare and submit high-impact, country-driven climate adaptation projects that address urgent national priorities.

Project Link: https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/sap055

Link to The official press release from GCF: https://www.greenclimate.fund/news/green-climate-fund-achieves-record-breaking-year-board-channels-usd-326-billion-developing