A new initiative in one of the world’s most vital ecosystems – the Congo Basin – aims to unlock nature-positive, climate-resilient business opportunities for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises across critical green sectors.

The partnership between the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), will initially invest $15 million, which will serve as a catalyst to raise additional public and private finance, ultimately targeting a total investment of $30 million in the region. By fostering local entrepreneurship and pioneering blended finance opportunities, Pro-Congo aims to demonstrate that businesses – whose model does not depend on deforestation – can develop, raise capital and sell products to market intermediaries thereby reducing carbon emissions, combatting deforestation, and promoting environmentally sustainable practices in one of the world’s most climate-critical regions.

The Congo Basin rainforest is one of the world’s largest carbon sinks. It is home to over 75 million people, including Indigenous Peoples whose livelihoods are deeply intertwined with the forest. Despite its importance and the ongoing threat of deforestation and unsustainable land use, this critical ecosystem has not received the same level of attention compared to tropical forests in Southeast Asia or the Amazon basin. The Pro-Congo initiative, which supports four countries in the region – Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo – is designed to contribute to reversing these trends by empowering local entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to lead the transition to a green economy and crowd in third party capital from impact investors and development banks.

"UNCDF is proud to unlock finance where it is needed most, supporting MSMEs in the Congo Basin to become nature-positive while creating jobs and driving sustainable growth. Our unique capital mandate within the UN development system allows us to address gaps in fragile contexts where traditional financial mechanisms often fall short. Through blended finance solutions we can unlock public and private capital and de-risk investments, while augmenting the development impact of our UN partners like UNEP,” said Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, the Executive Secretary of UNCDF.

UNCDF will support a pipeline of investment-ready enterprises able to absorb blended capital and create long-term value, deploying an initial $6.2 million in concessional finance, including loans and reimbursable grants to MSMEs with the potential to scale, while UNEP will lead on technical assistance, ensuring enterprises adopt robust environmental and social safeguards, providing seed funding, and building investment-ready business models through incubation and acceleration programs.

“The Congo Basin, with its unique biodiversity and above and below ground carbon stores, is critical to advance on international environmental targets. UNEP is therefore pleased to work with UNCDF and CAFI to support enterprises in the region to ‘decouple’ deforestation from economic activities,” said Rose Mwebaza, Director of UNEP’s Regional Office for Africa.

The Pro-Congo Initiative is supported by a dynamic coalition of CAFI donors – including Germany, Belgium, France, Norway, Sweden, the European Union, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom– alongside the six Central African partner countries in the Congo Basin.

UNCDF and UNEP are working closely with impact investors, development finance institutions, and national stakeholders to build a robust pipeline of investable, inclusive, and sustainable enterprises. By creating a scalable ecosystem for green finance, the initiative will contribute to the foundation for long-term resilience, climate action, and inclusive economic development in the Congo Basin.

About CAFI

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) was established in 2015 to support transformational reforms and investments that address the direct and underlying causes of deforestation in Central Africa. CAFI is both a high-level policy dialogue platform and a financing mechanism aligned with national climate and development objectives.

About UNCDF

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) mobilizes and catalyses an increase in capital flows for impactful investments in high-risk markets, especially in Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and countries in special situations. By crowding in capital through the deployment of risk-absorbing financial instruments, mechanisms and structuring advisory, UNCDF contributes to job creation and sustained economic growth in more than 70 countries.

In partnership with UN entities and development partners, UNCDF operates with speed and agility to deliver scalable, blended finance solutions to drive systemic change and pave the way for commercial finance and scale up by development finance institutions and multilateral development banks.

About UNEP

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the world’s leading authority on the environment. UNEP works globally to address the triple planetary crisis — climate change, nature loss, and pollution — by supporting nations in building low-carbon, nature-positive, and resource-efficient economies.