A powerful message emerged from the Green Finance Workshop – Addis Ababa 2025: Ethiopia’s green transition will not succeed without targeted support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and green startups, who remain sidelined by limited access to finance and capacity-building opportunities.
Organized by the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory (ACCPA) with support from the African Climate Foundation (ACF), the high-level workshop brought together over 45 stakeholders from across government, financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, and development partners.
While the event explored a wide range of issues around financing sustainable industrial growth, a recurring concern voiced by participants was the structural neglect of local innovators and SMEs in Ethiopia’s green economy agenda.
“We have brilliant ideas and passionate entrepreneurs, but without financing and technical support, their potential is lost,” said Helina Teklu, Founder and CEO, Seed Balls Ethiopia
The keynote presentation by Dr. Gebre Tafere, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Debre Berhan University, echoed these concerns, revealing that private sector contributions account for only 8% of Ethiopia’s tracked climate finance—leaving the majority of green funding reliant on international donors and grants. Local banks often treat green projects like any other loan, imposing high interest rates and strict collateral demands that many startups and SMEs cannot meet.
Participants also cited the lack of tailored financial products, insufficient technical training, and limited policy incentives as key roadblocks preventing wider adoption of green technologies by Ethiopia’s business community.
In response, multiple stakeholders emphasized the urgent need for a coordinated platform—such that can serve as a catalyst to bridge the persistent gap between green SMEs/startups and access to finance, technical support, and visibility.
Participants highlighted that such a platform could play a transformative role by facilitating targeted capacity-building and technical training for entrepreneurs and startups, while also providing structured pathways for exposure to investors, financial institutions, and green funders.
In addition, it would enhance coordination among key stakeholders through strengthened public-private collaboration and serve as a deal-matching ecosystem to help bankable green projects secure the funding and support they need to scale.
The Green Finance Workshop served as a critical platform to spotlight both the promise and the pain points of Ethiopia’s climate finance journey—placing the needs of SMEs and startups firmly on the national agenda.