The Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE) invited applications from high-integrity and high-impactful nature-based carbon projects across Africa to be part of its cohort 2. Selected projects will receive tailored transaction advisory support and project development funding to strengthen their technical, financial and impact foundations, and prepare them for investment.
APPLICATIONS
NOW CLOSED
The Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE) invited applications from high-integrity and high-impactful nature-based carbon projects across Africa to be part of its cohort 2. Selected projects received tailored transaction advisory support and project development funding to strengthen their technical, financial and impact foundations, and prepare them for investment. Applications for cohort 2 are now closed.
Thank you to everyone who applied. Details on future cohorts will be announced here in due course.
Is Your Project a
Fit for CAPE?
We are looking for nature-based carbon projects that have a completed feasibility study and can demonstrate strong biodiversity outcomes, integrated ecosystem approaches, and meaningful local community impact.
Location
Across Africa.
Project Type
Projects may include but are not limited to: Rangelands management, Regenerative agriculture, Agroforestry, Forest restoration and Mangrove conservation, and other landscape-scale nature-based projects.
Development Stage
Projects must have a completed feasibility study and identified carbon revenue opportunities
In-Scope Project Types Include:
ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation & Revegetation)
Blue Carbon
Peatlands & Wetlands
Projects generating Biodiversity outcomes
CAPE supports projects that
- Have a clear pathway to financial viability and evidence of buyer demand.
- Consider biodiversity and social impact beyond standard requirements (e.g. CCB).
- Intend to use a robust standard for validation (e.g. Verra, Gold Standard, Plan Vivo).
- Can be scaled and/or replicated.
- Operate within an enabling jurisdiction.
Before you apply
FSD Africa runs two complementary programmes supporting Africa's nature-positive economy, each backing a different financing pathway. Your project will likely fit one more naturally than the other.
CAPE supports nature-based projects where carbon revenues are currently the primary revenue stream and a central part of the investment case. These projects often generate broader commercial revenues, biodiversity outcomes, livelihood benefits and ecosystem resilience, and may develop additional ecosystem service revenues over time.
Nature First Innovation Lab (NFIL) supports nature-positive opportunities built on non-carbon nature finance pathways; biodiversity credits, ecosystem service payments, regenerative agriculture, sustainable supply chains, aquaculture, sustainable forestry and similar enterprises.
Practical test
What is the primary revenue stream and the strongest, most investable pathway for mobilising capital into your project today? If it's carbon, CAPE is the right fit. If it's broader nature-finance mechanisms, NFIL is.
Check out our FAQs for more details around CAPE vs NFIL.FAQs
General Questions
The key question is not whether carbon is present in your model. It is whether carbon is the primary basis on which an investor would underwrite you.
If a funder looks at your model and says “this works because of the carbon revenue” — that is CAPE. If they say “this works because of the enterprise, the supply chain, the offtake relationships, the ecosystem service payments” — and carbon is a secondary or supplementary stream — that is NFIL.
We would ask you to be honest with yourselves about which is the genuine fit. These programmes are designed to go deep with a small cohort, and a mismatched application takes up space that could go to someone better suited.
That said, if you are genuinely uncertain after reading the eligibility criteria, reach out to the team before applying. We would rather have that conversation than lose a strong candidate to confusion.
For the current cohort of both programmes, the answer is honestly: not yet. Both NFIL and CAPE are designed for post-feasibility models, where the intensive support can be deployed against a real transaction pathway.
That does not mean we want to lose track of you. Apply anyway, flag where you are, and the team will consider whether there is a better-suited programme or whether you are one to watch for a future cohort.
Carbon Accelerator Programme for the Environment (CAPE)
All projects that go through CAPE will need to be able to provide an adequate level of input and engagement to allow the agreed project development support and transaction support to take place. This will vary based on the requirements of each project and will form an important part of the co-design phase. CAPE will be able to fund some of this core staff time cost.
No, CAPE applicants are not expected to provide or secure co-funding or match funding.
Stage 1 of the EOI will be shared with projects who successfully pass Stage 0 eligibility. It will involve collecting more detailed information and further documentation (e.g., feasibility study, financial model) from the selected projects. This information will allow us to assess projects against our investment readiness screening criteria.
CAPE has patient, repayable funding available for projects. The specific structuring of this would be developed during the co-design of project support.
The scale of financing support will be confirmed on a project-by-project basis and matched to project needs. The indicative range of support provided by CAPE is $50,000–$500,000.
CAPE provides patient, repayable funding to eligible projects. This funding is repayable when a project completes a successful transaction.
CAPE offers tailored support to bridge the existing gap that limits a project’s ability to reach transaction. We focus on the critical stage of finalising project design and piloting after a feasibility study is complete.
Project development
- Guidance on MRV techniques for carbon and biodiversity outcomes
- Developing jurisdiction-specific Project Design Documents (PDDs)
- Securing community consent (FPIC)
- Creating best-in-class benefit-sharing frameworks
- Developing robust biodiversity studies
- Due diligence assessments
- Legal support
Transaction advisory
- Creating materials for commercial viability (financial models, pitch decks, business plans, risk assessments, legal and governance frameworks)
- Identifying and engaging with investors
- Managing investor outreach
- Building data rooms
- Modelling and structuring investment terms
- Supporting project-specific credit ratings
CAPE does not specify the required approach for measuring biodiversity uplift, as this will depend on the project’s jurisdiction, context (including landscape and habitats) and requirements from the relevant standard and methodology, if appropriate. CAPE can fund biodiversity baseline studies and surveys.
CAPE is open to applications from projects in jurisdictions where Article 6 frameworks are still being developed. This will be taken into consideration when assessing a project’s support needs. CAPE support can cover host country assessment and assist with policy alignment and government engagement.
To be eligible for CAPE support, projects must have completed a full feasibility study. CAPE does not prescribe a format or template for the feasibility study, but the assessment by the CAPE team will cover the viability of the project.
CAPE is open to applications from across Africa. While there is no preference for specific geographies, there is a separate tranche of funding dedicated to projects from Ethiopia. Provided that the project is a nature-based carbon project, CAPE does not have a priority and supports a range of project types across different landscapes and interventions.
CAPE is currently open for applications for its second cohort. There will be further rounds of applications and cohorts in the future.