Rwanda: Kigali to host the 2026 pan-African CMAS carbon markets summit in October

The Carbon Markets Africa Summit (CMAS) 2026 will take place from October 13 to 15, 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda, under the auspices of the Rwandan Ministry of Environment, with UNDP and the African Development Bank (AfDB) as host organizations, according to a press release issued by APO Group on behalf of VUKA Group. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) acts as host partner and AUDA-NEPAD as strategic institutional partner. More than ten African governments and over twenty investors and financiers will be represented, alongside UNFCCC and the European Commission. New partners are joining the 2026 edition: GIZ, BeZero Carbon, Welthungerhilfe, FSD Africa, UNEP, and Carbon Standards International. UNEP will host a "Nature Deal Room" dedicated to nature-based carbon transactions. Meanwhile, the African Union is deploying its Africa Action Plan on Carbon Markets, while Ghana is developing its project pipelines and authorization systems under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. "I genuinely believe Africa could become the defining force in global carbon markets," said Shikha Sharma, Global Technical Lead for Offsets & Removals at SGS. Fatmata Lovetta Sesay, UNDP Resident Representative in Rwanda, emphasized that "the true value of carbon markets lies in what they make possible: financing national priorities, decent jobs, resilient livelihoods, and sustainable development." For African project developers, the challenge is to translate these regulatory advances into concrete transactions: buyers and investors demand credible MRV systems, proven compliance, and transactional certainty before committing capital. This acceleration comes as Article 6 progresses globally and several African countries transition from readiness to execution. The attractiveness of c...