• Tandem Bank offset 2024 emissions through carbon credits from solar projects in Kenya and Uganda.
• Africa’s share of the voluntary carbon market tripled between 2020 and 2024.
• Credits are increasingly funding clean cooking and off-grid electrification.

British lender Tandem Bank announced in late October 2025 that it had offset all its 2024 operational emissions by purchasing over 3,300 tons of carbon credits from Climate Impact Partners. The credits were generated from household solar projects in Kenya and Uganda, which provide thousands of homes with reliable electricity while reducing kerosene use. Revenue from the sale of these credits helps sustain and expand such community-based clean energy initiatives.

Carbon credits have become an important climate finance mechanism linking companies in the Global North to high-impact projects in the Global South, particularly across Africa. Issued following independent verification of emission reductions, these credits are purchased by companies to compensate for residual emissions. The voluntary carbon market, where Tandem operates, channels growing private investment into clean energy efforts—mainly in clean cooking and decentralized electrification.

Some African projects are also part of regulated international frameworks such as Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. One example is the Spark+ Africa Fund and Envirofit initiative in Ghana, which completed the first issuance and sale of transferable carbon credits (ITMOs) to Switzerland. The credits were generated from improved cookstove projects that reduce firewood and charcoal use while creating local jobs.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), transactions linked to energy-related carbon credits reached $335 million in 2024, representing less than 0.02% of global clean energy financing. However, Africa’s share of this market has expanded rapidly—from $43 million in 2020 to $143 million in 2024—driven largely by clean cooking projects, which account for more than 80% of regional activity.

Though still modest globally, the carbon credit mechanism is becoming a tangible driver of clean energy access in Africa, supporting off-grid electrification and clean cooking projects that generate not only environmental but also economic, social, and health benefits.