Deep dives into carbon policy, investment & innovation.

Explore the agenda driving Africa’s carbon markets forward.

Overview

Keynote session on geopolitics & carbon markets: Examining global shifts, including U.S. policy changes, EU regulations, and Africa’s strategic positioning
Ministerial roundtable: Looking at the future of carbon regulations in Africa
Plenary sessions: Covering pathways for scaling high-integrity carbon markets
Deep-dive workshops: Capacity building and knowledge sharing sessions for regulators, project developers and investors
Investor round tables: Exclusive, high-impact discussions designed to connect investors, project developers, and policymakers
Project presentations: Showcasing investable carbon market initiatives across Africa
Carbon markets 101: Provides a foundational understanding of how carbon markets work
High-impact dialogue by the Global Trust Project: Strategic, solutions-driven conversation that brings together key stakeholders to address trust, integrity, and accountability in carbon markets
Networking space: Facilitating partnerships between key players in the carbon finance ecosystem

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Key Themes:

Policy, Regulation & African Leadership: Unlocking carbon markets as a lever for Africa’s net-zero and development goals

Global Trends & Market Signals: Assessing geopolitical dynamics, buyer expectations, market data

Financing the Future: Mobilising continental & global capital, innovative finance, and investor engagement

Market Integrity & Standards: Ensuring credibility, trust, and transparency in Africa’s carbon landscape.

Regional & Continental Cooperation: Uniting private and public actors for collective impact

From Projects to Pipelines: Scaling investment-ready, high-Integrity carbon initiatives

Beyond Carbon: Co-benefits (Biodiversity, Social, Economic, Educational),

Programme Overview

Call For Papers

We are now accepting submissions for the 2025 edition of the Carbon Markets Africa Summit. If you are leading a successful carbon project, developing breakthrough climate finance solutions, advancing regulatory frameworks, or pioneering carbon market technologies—we want to hear from you.

We’re looking for abstracts and proposals that cover these topics (non-exhaustive list):

Scalable and investment-ready carbon credit projects
Innovations in MRV, blockchain, and digital carbon platforms
National and regional policy breakthroughs or Article 6 implementation strategies
Private sector solutions driving integrity and transparency
Financing mechanisms or models accelerating African carbon markets

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, policymaker, investor, innovator, academic, or civil society leader—if your work is moving the market forward, this is your opportunity to showcase it to a global audience.

Submit your abstract (1000-1500 words) by 31 May 2025
Presentations, panels, and workshops welcome
Speaking opportunities are limited—apply early

Submit an abstract

MEET THE ADVISORY BOARD

Andrew Gilder

Director, Climate Legal, South Africa

Andrew Gilder is one of South Africa’s leading private sector environmental, climate change and carbon markets lawyer – he is a Director of Climate Legal, with more than twenty-three years’ legal practice experience specialising in climate change (mitigation and adaptation), climate finance and development, carbon markets, carbon tax, environmental and energy law, policy and governance. His practical experience extends over a range of African jurisdictions, including advice to public and private sectors on the development and implementation of climate change, climate finance, carbon markets, carbon tax, environmental and energy law, policy and governance as well as regulatory and transactional advice to industries, foreign embassies and municipalities on the implementation of infrastructure development projects. His practical experience includes advising government, businesses and industries on climate change policy development and its implications, including climate change business risks and opportunities, assessing commercial relationships against evolving climate change policy and regulation and relevant contractual considerations, as well as advising on, negotiating and drafting of commercial contracts required to secure financial and logistical positions in the carbon market. He is also responsible for drafting the South African Climate Change Act 2024, for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, together with related legal instruments, and was extensively involved in South Africa’s adaptation legal and policy alignment process. Andrew has worked on climate change legislation and strategy in Zimbabwe, Thailand, Mongolia, The Seychelles and the Southern African Development Community and has been recognised as a leading lawyer by PLC Which Lawyer? 2012 (Environment, South Africa), Best Lawyers 2018, 2020–24 (Environment, South Africa) and Chambers and Partners 2021–2024 (Environment, South Africa), and was shortlisted for an African Legal Award, in 2015. Andrew is the co-editor and co-author of three seminal works in the South African climate change and carbon market arena, namely: Climate Change Law and Governance in South Africa (Juta, 2016) (South Africa’s first comprehensive treatise on climate change law and governance), Concise Guide to Carbon Tax (LexisNexis, October 2020) and Comprehensive Guide to Carbon Tax (LexisNexis, March 2022).

Bianca Gichangi

Regional Lead - Africa, VCMI, Kenya

Bianca is the Regional Lead for Africa at the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI). She recently completed a secondment as a Carbon Markets Advisor to the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change in the Executive Office of the President of Kenya. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in shaping Kenya's policy and regulatory framework in alignment with the President’s vision of attracting carbon finance for Kenya’s green growth. She also organized the inaugural Kenya Carbon Markets Conference in March 2024, bringing together key stakeholders in a collective effort to participate in high integrity carbon markets. Now back at VCMI, her role focuses on leading delivery of VCMI strategy across Africa, including the scale up of VCMI’s access strategies . Prior to VCMI, Bianca was the Coordinator of the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance where she led capacity building activities on carbon markets for government and non-state actors. Her experience also extends to serving as a Lead Coordinator and negotiator for Article 6 for the Kenya Delegation at climate change negotiations.

Brett Stacey

Director, Carbon Zero Verification Limited, UK

Brett Stacey has more than 30 years of experience in Financial and Commodity markets. He was part of the team that set up the futures exchange in South Africa and held the position of Deputy Chairman for several years. He founded the first derivative broking business in South Africa, which was eventually sold to Flemings Bank and later JP Morgan. After emigrating to the UK, he started the Carbon Desk, which was the largest independent broker on the Climate Exchange until the demise of the market in 2011. Brett has also advised on the development of the trading platform and registry and continues to build the team to ensure the integrity and functioning of the trading and registry system for our clients.

Mathis Granjon

Trader, Green Steps, Netherlands

Mathis Granjon is Head of Carbon Markets at Green Steps, where he leads the company’s carbon trading and sourcing strategy. With a background in mathematics and science from ECSP, he began his career as an LNG trader at Tamoli before moving into hedge fund fundraising in the US. His combined experience in energy trading and finance equips him to navigate the evolving carbon markets with both commercial insight and a strong focus on sustainability.

Dr. Olufunso Somorin

Regional Principal Officer, AfDB, Kenya

Olivia Tuchten

Principal Climate Change Advisor, Promethium Carbon, South Africa

Reshma Shah

Lead, Carbon Markets, FSD Africa, Kenya

Lawrence Cole-Morgan

Global Markets: Lead, Carbon Credit Trading, Standard bank

Heather McEwan

Regional Representative, Africa, and the Middle East - Strategy, Policy, and Markets Department, Verra

Andrew Ocama

Coordinator, Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate finance

Bernardin Uzayisaba

Carbon Market Programme Specialist, UNDP

Maxime Bayen

Operating Partner, Catalyst Fund

Javier Manzanares

CEO, ALLEN MANZA

Hubert Ruzibiza

Founder, Climate Prosperity Center – Africa, Rwanda

JOIN THE ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Olufunso Somorin is a Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank. He leads the Bank’s work on climate change and green growth in the 13 countries of the Bank’s East African region. This includes supporting countries’ access to climate finance for climate actions, and mainstreaming climate change in policies and programs. He leads strategic dialogues with public and private institutions on policy frameworks for managing local/regional socio-economic issues, climate change, renewable energy, carbon markets, infrastructure, ESG and inclusive growth. Between 2013 and 2017, he coordinated the Bank’s work on addressing fragility and building resilience within the Horn of Africa. In the last 13+ years in the Bank, he has been directly involved in the design, appraisal, and supervision of more than 300 development projects across multiple sectors, worth more than USD 20 billion. Over the last 17 years, Dr Somorin has published more than 50 articles on climate policy in Africa and has spoken at 300+ conferences and events.

Olivia Tuchten is a Director at the Promethium group of companies, which is a multi-disciplinary team of independent and passionate carbon and climate change advisors.
She represents Promethium on the Executive Committee of the Project Developer Forum, a collaborative association of companies and practitioners that are developing and financing greenhouse gas emission reduction projects around the world, as well as the ISO Technical Committee 207 (Environmental Management). In her personal capacity, she is a UNFCCC nominated expert and was also on the Article 6.4 Mechanism Roster of Experts as a “Methodologies Expert” until March 2025.
She holds a Masters in Business Administration and undertook her research dissertation on the advantages of strategic alliances in the South African renewable energy industry, with specific reference to the first phase of the recent Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme undertaken in South Africa to drive development of the renewables sector.
She has worked in the climate sector for over 15 years, and has been involved in the development, registration and issuance of carbon offset projects for this length of time. Her passion is to develop and grow carbon markets in Southern Africa and across the continent.

Reshma Shah is a strategic and impact-driven leader with over 20 years’ experience spanning sustainability, finance, risk, and business strategy. She has worked extensively across Africa and the Middle East, with a focus on the finance, infrastructure, and extractives sectors — and a growing emphasis on nature-based economies and climate solutions.
Reshma currently leads the Carbon Centre of Expertise at FSD Africa, where she is shaping the future of carbon markets across the continent. She drives strategy, policy engagement, and innovative financing models to unlock climate capital and scale high-integrity carbon markets. Her work supports both nature-based sectors — including forestry, agriculture, and land use — and technological sectors, helping them access carbon finance and deliver high-quality, verifiable credits with strong co-benefits for communities and biodiversity.
She works closely with governments, regulators, and private sector actors to build enabling environments, strengthen ecosystems, and embed environmental and social integrity into market design.
Previously, Reshma served as Sustainability Director at Equity Group, the largest financial institution in East and Central Africa, where she integrated ESG across operations and advanced sustainable finance, climate resilience, and inclusive growth.
Her expertise spans sustainable finance, ESG and climate risk, mergers and acquisitions, stakeholder engagement, and shared prosperity models that balance commercial, technical, environmental, and socio-economic outcomes. She is known for her ability to navigate complex systems, forge impactful partnerships, and deliver tangible, scalable results.
Reshma holds an Economics degree from the University of Manchester, an Executive MBA from École des Ponts ParisTech, and certifications in sustainable finance and climate from Cambridge University and ICMA. She is also a UK-qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser.

Lawrence Cole-Morgan holds a law degree from the University of Birmingham and is a UK-qualified solicitor. He has also recently obtained a master’s degree in Environmental and Energy Law, also from the University of Birmingham. Lawrence spent 5 years as a banking and finance lawyer with leading English and New York law firms before moving into banking, where he worked in structured finance for Bankers Trust and Deutsche in London, Singapore, and Tokyo. In 2010, Lawrence joined Standard Bank’s Investment Banking team, where he worked on numerous financing transactions, and in 2022, he moved to the Global Markets division of Standard Bank to set up the bank’s carbon credit trading and finance business.

BIO TBC

Andrew Ocama is a seasoned sustainable development professional with more than 14 years’ experience in the carbon markets. He has served in several carbon asset development management and consulting roles in the region and led teams to remarkable degrees of measurable success in both the Gold Standard and CDM. He is a long-standing supporter of the Alliance and has been available to contribute to several consultations regarding carbon market systems formation especially with regard to Article 6. He took on the role of the Alliance coordinator in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is leading on the implementation of the organizational strategy, institutional growth, and the delivery of projects, mainly country structural priorities, with regard to readiness for carbon markets access and climate finance. He most recently served as an embedded Climate Finance Advisor working with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in Ethiopia supporting the Ministry of Planning and Development in the development of systems for carbon markets and the sovereign wealth fund in the development of a climate strategy and a pipeline of projects. Before that, he served in Senior Management roles with Evidence Action, leading in the issuance of more than 2.4 million carbon credits certified under the CDM and Gold Standard. He previously led country programs for Co2balance in Uganda and Rwanda and has served as a consultant on development of African clean cooking and hydro power carbon projects with the South Pole Group.

Since 2019, Tomas Sales leads the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub (AFSH) Private Sector and related Sustainable Investments workstreams which deals with issues of SME and informal enterprises finance and trade, regional food value chains development and resilience, green business, and carbon markets. In the previous 4 years, he was the UNDP Manager for the African Facility for Inclusive Markets (AFIM) Unit of the RSCA. Tomas is an expert on Emerging Markets Capital Markets and Business Finance, Private Sector Development and Engagement, Business Ecosystems Development Approach, Collective Action Platforms, Value Chain Development, Impact Investment and Sustainable Finance. He has a solid track record in designing, developing, and delivering successful corporate flagships products and development solutions such as the UNDP’s “Realizing Africa’s Wealth- Building Inclusive Business for Shared Prosperity Report”, the “Africa Impact Investment Action Plan and Sector Development Initiative” and the “Agribusiness Supplier Development Program” implemented in Nigeria, Kenya, and Cote Ivoire. He has helped pioneering 3 Regional Food Value Chains Facilitation Platforms with ECOWAS, COMESA and EAC, co-developed the “CAADP Investment Facilitation Project” for Investment Agencies, the strategic and business plan for the creation of the AUC AIMEC (African Inclusive Markets Centre of Excellence) and lead with the preparation of the “South Africa SDG Investor Map”, the first in the continent. Tomas also led an “Africa Impact Investment Fund of Funds Study “and the incubation and launching of the Impact@Africa, a continental impact investment network. He also contributed actively in the preparation of’ “Regulation as a Stimulus Report” to leverage the AfCTA opportunities in the post COVID recovery era. Before UNDP he served as an Emerging Capital Markets Director and Investment Advisor with Caswell Capital Partners, the Devpar Group, and the Aidoo Group in Wall Street. He holds a Post-Graduate Advanced Diploma in International Business and Finance, and Master of Arts and Science on International Economics and Development from Fordham University. He speaks English, Portuguese, and French.