Africa‘s ability to withstand the growing economic impact of climate change will depend largely on how effectively financial institutions place women, smallholder farmers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises at the centre of climate financing, experts have said.

The call was made at the Africa Inclusive Climate Finance Conference 2026, convened in Lagos by LAPO Microfinance Bank (LAPO MfB) in partnership with the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI).

Themed “Gender-Smart Finance for Climate-Smart Agriculture: Building Inclusive Rural Economies,” the conference brought together financial institutions, regulators, development finance organisations, technology companies and private-sector stakeholders to examine the intersection of climate resilience, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment and sustainable enterprise.

In her speech, Cynthia Ikponmwosa, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, LAPO Microfinance Bank, said the climate challenge was also a financing challenge, particularly for communities whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and informal economic activity.

“Climate resilience cannot be separated from financial inclusion. If women farmers, rural households and small businesses cannot access the capital they need to adapt, then climate finance will remain disconnected from the realities of the people it is meant to serve,” Ikponmwosa said.

She stressed the need for financial institutions to move beyond conventional lending models and design financing solutions around the income patterns, vulnerabilities and opportunities of underserved communities.

Speaking on the evolution of inclusive finance, Peter Simon highlighted WSBI’s more than 100-year history and its continuing role in advancing inclusive financial services globally and in Nigeria. He stressed the importance of savings and retail banks in ensuring that climate finance reaches communities and businesses at the grassroots.

“The challenge before Africa is not simply to mobilise more capital, but to ensure that capital reaches the people and businesses that need it most. Inclusive finance must become part of the continent’s climate resilience infrastructure,” Simon said.

Speaking from the technology and payments perspective, Chidozie Arinze, Senior Director of Government Affairs for Western and Central Africa at Visa, highlighted digital finance as a critical enabler of broader access to financial services.

He noted that digital payments and technology could help financial institutions reach underserved communities more efficiently while creating opportunities for greater transparency, convenience and participation in the formal economy.

“Digitalisation gives us an opportunity to take financial services closer to people, particularly those traditionally excluded from formal finance. The opportunity is to combine technology with the right partnerships and policies to make inclusion sustainable,” Arinze said.

In her remarks, Angela Omeiza, ESG Board Chairperson, LAPO Microfinance Bank, said gender-smart finance should go beyond simply creating financial products targeted at women.

She explained that effective gender-smart finance requires a deeper understanding of the risks women face and the economic activities through which they generate income, particularly in agriculture and informal markets.

“Gender-smart finance is not simply about creating products for women. It is about understanding the risks women face, designing finance around those realities and ensuring that capital translates into resilience, productivity and sustainable livelihoods,” Omeiza said.

Discussions at the conference focused strongly on the need to convert climate risk into bankable opportunities. During the session on “Empowering Communities Through Climate Action: From Climate Risk Mapping to Inclusive Climate-Smart Financial Solutions,” participants examined how financial institutions could use climate-risk information to develop products that help vulnerable communities prepare for and recover from climate-related shocks.

Al-Amine Nejjar, WSBI Vice President, Africa Regional President and Chairman of the Management Board, Al Barid Bank, Morocco, highlighted the strategic role of African savings and retail banks in financing MSMEs, strengthening climate resilience and driving inclusive economic growth.

Kola Masha, Managing Director, Babban Gona, brought the perspective of smallholder agriculture to the discussion, examining how financial institutions can transform climate risks confronting farmers into viable and bankable financing opportunities.

Stakeholders also examined the resilience of Africa’s MSME ecosystem, recognising that climate-related disruptions increasingly affect businesses through rising operating costs, supply-chain disruptions, reduced productivity and changes in consumer demand.

The conference further featured a high-level discussion, “When Capital Meets Climate: Rethinking What Impact Really Means,” which challenged stakeholders to look beyond the volume of capital deployed and focus more closely on the outcomes created by finance.

The panel featured Dorcas Thorpe, Chief Digital Officer, LAPO Microfinance Bank; Oluwaseun Sofuyi, Assistant Director, Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department, Central Bank of Nigeria; and Ayodele Olojede, Chief Operating Officer, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN).

The discussion explored the role of digital financial services, consumer protection, development finance and responsible capital in ensuring that climate finance produces measurable improvements in livelihoods and economic resilience.

The conversations reinforced the need for stronger collaboration among financial institutions, governments, development partners, technology companies and businesses to close the financing gap facing climate-vulnerable communities.

For LAPO Microfinance Bank, the conference further strengthened its position that financial inclusion must evolve from simply providing access to finance to building the capacity of individuals and businesses to manage uncertainty, withstand shocks, recover and continue pursuing opportunity.

The partnership with WSBI also reinforced the importance of collaboration among African savings and retail banks in developing practical, scalable approaches to inclusive climate finance. WSBI’s Africa Regional Group Meeting, hosted alongside the broader programme, similarly focused on inclusive banking, climate-smart and gender-smart finance, SME and rural economy development, digital transformation and development finance.

As climate pressures intensify, stakeholders called for capital, technology and partnerships to be directed towards enabling women, farmers and MSMEs to move from vulnerability to resilience, and from resilience to sustainable economic growth.