The Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved $140 million on 27 October 2026 to support green hydrogen and industrial decarbonisation investments in South Africa and Namibia. Announced the following day by investment manager Climate Fund Managers, the decision provides catalytic capital for Climate Investor Three, a platform designed to combine public and private funding for energy and industrial infrastructure.
The commitment will be channelled through two country funds. South Africa’s SA-H2 is allocated $84 million for construction equity, while SDG Namibia One will receive $56 million. The Namibian share comprises $15 million for early-stage project development and $41 million for construction equity, bringing financing to both the preparatory and building phases of the investment cycle.
The structure is designed to absorb some of the risks that can discourage commercial investors from entering projects before they are ready to operate. Climate Fund Managers intends to attract further capital towards a $1.2 billion programme, spanning green hydrogen production, low-emissions ammonia and methanol, renewable power facilities and equipment serving energy-intensive industries.
Existing agreements provide an initial project pipeline
In South Africa, SA-H2 has signed development-funding agreements for Hive Hydrogen’s green ammonia project at Coega and a green methanol facility using wastewater developed by Green eFuels Producers. In Namibia, SDG Namibia One has reached similar agreements with Hyphen, HyIron’s Oshivela green iron venture, Zhero Molecules’ Walvis Bay ammonia project and the Dâures green fertiliser initiative. The agreements establish a pipeline of projects that the funds are already helping to prepare.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) will act as the GCF-accredited entity overseeing the regional facility, including monitoring and reporting. SDG Namibia One is managed through a partnership involving Climate Fund Managers, Invest International and Namibia’s Environmental Investment Fund, bringing local institutional participation into the financing structure.
The approval follows SA-H2’s first financial close in August 2026, when the South African fund secured 3 billion rand, equivalent to about $182 million at the time, from investors including domestic financial institutions. Across the two countries, the GCF-backed facility aims to support 30 to 40 industrial projects and approximately 1.52 gigawatts of renewable generating capacity. Achieving that scale will depend on the additional capital the investment manager is seeking to mobilise.