The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program is an Africa-owned and Africa-led response to the continent's expressed needs and priorities to reduce its vulnerabilities to climate change and accelerate adaptation. African leaders have asked for this program and have endorsed the design of the AAAP. The Chair of the African Union, President Felix Tshisekedi, endorsed the program at the largest gathering ever of African Heads of State of Government solely focused on adaptation in April 2021.

The speed and scale of adaptation action in Africa are grossly insufficient to meet the urgent needs. What Africa requires are actions that bring adaptation to the space and scale needed by overcoming current blockages and using the untapped potential of the continent. Through broad consultation with African countries and regional institutions, four critical areas for urgent action at scale have been identified:

The AAAP aims to mobilize $25 billion over five years ($5 billion per year). The African Development Bank has already committed half of the total, $12.5 billion, by 2025. This funding is expected to be mobilized through different financial instruments, such as grants, loans, guarantees, and risk-sharing mechanisms. The AAAP will mobilize and deploy new climate finance instruments to de-risk and crowd in additional private finance.

The AAAP will be implemented through two mechanisms. First, an Upstream Facility at the country level, which will provide research and policy support, and monitor progress to apply lessons at the regional level. Second, an Investment Facility to finance the projects and programs developed under the four pillars of the AAAP, bringing in multiple financing sources through innovative financial instruments.

The AAAP welcomes donors and investors interested in supporting adaptation at scale in Africa. This support needs robust coordination platforms at the national and regional levels. Fragmented action with overlapping areas of work drains the limited resources of African nations and institutions. The AAAP is designed as a welcoming platform, and the GCA and African Development Bank will support African countries taking the leadership of active and decisive coordination of related programs.

In designing the AAAP, extensive consultations with African countries identified key areas where action was most needed and investments in adaptation and building resilience could yield high dividends. The need for the AAAP to operationalize the Africa Adaptation Initiative came out clearly. Consequently, the Global Center on Adaptation signed an agreement with the AAI as its implementing partner. Through the Leaders' and Partnership Forums, the AAAP continuously receives feedback from Africa's leadership, other stakeholders, and partners.

The AAAP was launched at the Climate Adaptation Summit in January 2021 and endorsed at the Leaders' Dialogue on the Africa Covid-Climate Emergency in April 2021. This was the largest gathering ever of African Heads of State and Government solely focused on adaptation. More than 30 African heads of state and other global leaders rallied behind the bold new Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, a key vehicle to operationalize the Africa Adaptation Initiative's mandate.

African ownership is central in the design and development of the AAAP, enabled through the extensive engagement with African stakeholders. The AAAP is Africa's plan for adaptation. In addition, the AAAP will continue to respond to the evolving African context; initiatives and priorities in the implementation of the AAAP will be guided by voiced demands.

The AAAP was developed, building on the vision and work plan of the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI). During the April 6th 2021 Leaders' Dialogue on the Africa Covid-Climate Emergency organized by the GCA, AfDB and AAI, the AAAP was endorsed in a communiqué by African leaders as a vehicle to implement the vision of the AAI. GCA's role as Lead Coordinating Partner of the AAI is crucial to further ensure this strong linkage between the AAAP and the AAI in the implementation of the AAAP.

The AAAP will support all African countries in their efforts to adapt. The design and implementation of the AAAP is primarily demand-led. However, currently demand far outpaces the AAAP's ability to respond the first considerations will be to the most vulnerable in the Least Developed Countries and the Small Island Developing States.. In the prioritization of specific activities and locations for initiatives of the AAAP, selection criteria are used that fit with the specific aims and intervention of the initiatives.

Africa neither can nor should bear the burden of adapting to climate change alone. Support from the international community is crucial to deliver upon the AAAP. The AAAP is not an exclusive partnership between the GCA and the African Development Bank. Partnerships at all levels are at the core of the AAAP's theory of change. The ambition of the AAAP needs the efforts taken, both by the continent and by the international community, to be scaled up.

The evaluation of the AAAP's performance on the ground will be done through the implementing partners of specific projects. An overall results framework and monitoring system is being developed by the GCA which will guide the reporting requirements of implementing partners to ensure that the performance of the AAAP can be evaluated in a similar manner in all projects. Important items taken into consideration are the sustainability of the projects and outcomes.