On September 10, 2025, at the Africa Climate Summit 2.0, Climate Resilience for All (CRA), together with Ethiopia’s State Minister of Planning and Development, announced Accra, Paynesville, Monrovia, and Kassa as the first recipients of its African Urban Heat Resilience Grants. Each city will receive $40,000 to fund urban heat mapping, policy development, and community-driven awareness campaigns aimed at protecting vulnerable populations, particularly women, from extreme heat.
The program, first launched at the African Urban Heat Summit in Freetown earlier this year, builds on Freetown’s pioneering Heat Action Plan and will provide technical support and capacity-building for African cities. Leaders, including CRA CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod and Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, emphasized that African cities are leading the fight against extreme heat through women-centered, locally driven solutions.
CRA also announced new shade infrastructure projects in Freetown’s informal markets to protect women traders, incorporating solar-powered fans, lighting, and cold storage facilities.
Looking ahead, the Africa Urban Heat Summit 2026 will expand efforts across the continent, scaling up African-led solutions, sharing lessons, and mobilizing adaptation finance to build climate-resilient cities that safeguard health, livelihoods, and dignity.
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