Green industrialisation is a top priority for many African countries, which are leveraging renewable energy potential to attract investment in green industries such as hydrogen, iron, and steel. Meanwhile, climate adaptation remains critically underfunded, despite estimates that inaction could cost the continent up to $50 billion annually by 2050. A key challenge is making adaptation, particularly in Africa’s climate-vulnerable agri-food systems, a compelling short-term investment case.

This side-event questions the perception that green industrialisation and climate adaptation are separate priorities.  In reality, stalled agricultural modernisation is driving three interconnected challenges: high emissions from carbon-intensive land-use change, growing food import dependency, and low resilience to climate shocks. Addressing these requires a transformative approach that treats industrialisation and adaptation as two sides of the same coin, where progress in one can accelerate gains in the other.

The session will illustrate this synergy through the example of low-carbon fertiliser. Investing in green ammonia production can contribute to agricultural modernisation that boosts yields, improves food security, and builds climate resilience by safeguarding forests and other critical ecosystems. At the same time, it can create lead markets for Africa’s emerging green industries, linking industrial and agricultural development 

The roundtable will explore how to build this virtuous cycle by highlighting production challenges, the critical role of regional markets and how new partnership models, particularly the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, can be shaped to deliver these co-benefits on the ground.

Speakers to be confirmed soon.