Strengthening Eritrea’s Climate Finance Framework: OSS Supports the Development of the Country’s First GCF Country Programme

Asmara on 21–22 September 2026

For a country such as Eritrea, where development priorities are closely linked to climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, land and energy, strengthening access to climate finance is essential to building long-term resilience. Developing a clear pipeline of priorities and investments is therefore a critical step in translating climate needs into coordinated and actionable responses.

Against this backdrop, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) is supporting Eritrea in the development of its first Green Climate Fund (GCF) Country Programme, as part of the Readiness project “Enhancing Institutional, Human and Technical Capacity of Eritrea’s System for Climate Finance.”

A technical consultation mission conducted in Asmara on 21–22 September 2026 marked an important step in this process. Through its support, OSS is helping strengthen national capacities, facilitate dialogue among institutions and structure climate priorities into a coherent framework that can guide future engagement with the GCF and other climate finance mechanisms.

Building the Programme around national priorities
Rather than approaching climate finance as a collection of individual projects, the consultation process focused on building a nationally driven and coordinated vision for climate investment.

Bilateral discussions brought together senior officials and technical experts from key government institutions working in climate-sensitive sectors. They provided an opportunity to review ongoing initiatives, identify sectoral needs and priorities, and explore areas where climate finance could generate greater and more sustainable impact.

Several interconnected priorities emerged, including sustainable energy access, food security, integrated water resources management, land restoration and the resilience of agricultural systems. The consultations also helped identify potential synergies across sectors, an important step towards ensuring that future investments complement one another and respond to broader national development objectives.

Connecting priorities with climate finance opportunities
The challenge is not only to identify where action is needed, but also to translate national priorities into strategic investment opportunities that can attract and effectively mobilize climate finance.

This is where OSS support brings particular value. By combining technical expertise, institutional capacity building and its experience as a GCF Accredited Entity, OSS is accompanying Eritrea in structuring the foundations of its Country Programme and strengthening the link between national climate priorities and available financing opportunities.

The Programme is expected to provide a strategic framework for directing future investments towards areas with strong transformative potential, including climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration, energy transition, community resilience and institutional capacity strengthening.

The mission also contributed to stronger coordination with technical and financial partners working in Eritrea, helping promote greater coherence and complementarity among climate-related initiatives.

From consultation to national ownership
With sectoral priorities and stakeholder contributions now consolidated, the process will move towards a national validation workshop, where the proposed Country Programme will be presented, discussed and further refined with national stakeholders.

This next step will be essential to strengthen national ownership and ensure that the Programme reflects Eritrea’s priorities while providing a clear framework for future climate investments.

Through this process, OSS is supporting Eritrea not only in preparing its first GCF Country Programme, but also in strengthening the institutional and strategic foundations needed to mobilize and manage climate finance over the longer term.

The future Country Programme will ultimately serve as a bridge between Eritrea’s national priorities and international climate finance, helping turn identified needs into coordinated investments that support resilience, sustainable development and long-term climate action.