ABA Editorial · Feb 14, 2026 · 13 min read
Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) committed international climate finance to support developing country energy transitions, starting with South Africa at COP26 in 2021 with approximately USD 8.5 billion pledged. Senegal followed in 2023 with a smaller commitment. The model's replication across additional African countries has been slower than advocates hoped. This report maps the JETP framework and its implementation status.
Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) are the climate finance mechanism through which wealthy countries committed to supporting the energy transitions of selected developing economies heavily dependent on coal or other fossil fuels. The first JETP was announced at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021 for South Africa, with approximately USD 8.5 billion in concessional loans, grants, and risk guarantees pledged by the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the European Union. Senegal followed with a JETP announced in 2023, with a smaller commitment structured around supporting the country's renewable energy deployment. Indonesia and Vietnam JETPs were announced for Asian markets. As of early 2026, the JETP model remains the most significant climate finance mechanism committed to supporting developing country energy transitions, but implementation has been slower and more complicated than the original framework anticipated. This report maps the African JETP experience and the questions about its replication.
The South African JETP was announced at COP26 in November 2021 and represented the first application of the model. The USD 8.5 billion commitment was framed as support for South Africa's move away from coal, which still accounts for the majority of the country's electricity generation and employs tens of thousands of workers in coal mining regions. The financing was structured as a mix of concessional loans, grants, and risk guarantees from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the European Union.
The implementation framework was developed through 2022 and 2023, producing the South Africa Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) that outlined specific sectors, projects, and timelines for deploying the committed capital. The plan covered electricity sector decarbonization, new energy vehicle manufacturing, green hydrogen development, and just transition support for affected communities.
Implementation has been complicated by several factors. First, the majority of the USD 8.5 billion was structured as loans rather than grants, creating debt sustainability concerns for the South African government that advocacy groups and some South African policymakers raised repeatedly. Second, the political and social challenge of managing workforce transitions in coal-mining regions slowed the pace of coal plant decommissioning, because no responsible government wants to trigger mass unemployment without alternative livelihoods in place. Third, domestic political considerations within South Africa, including the complex relationship between the ruling African National Congress and coal-mining trade unions, affected how quickly specific commitments could be translated into action.
As of early 2026, the JETP remains operationally important for South Africa's energy trajectory, but the pace of implementation has been slower than the original framework assumed. Portions of the committed capital have been deployed into specific projects and programs, while other portions remain under negotiation or are awaiting implementation decisions.
Senegal announced its JETP in 2023, with a smaller financing commitment than South Africa's but a different structural focus. Senegal is not heavily dependent on coal, so its JETP was oriented around supporting renewable energy deployment, grid strengthening, and clean cooking transition rather than coal replacement. The commitment came primarily from the European Union, Germany, and France, along with other European partners, and was sized to Senegal's specific circumstances.
The Senegalese JETP is interesting as a case because it represents the model's attempt to extend beyond coal-dependent economies to renewable-expansion economies. The framework allows for JETP arrangements to support energy transitions even where coal is not the primary challenge, which expands the potential application of the model to a wider range of African countries.
Implementation of the Senegal JETP has proceeded alongside the broader changes in Senegalese energy policy, including the GTA offshore gas development and expansion of renewable generation.
The central question for JETPs in Africa is whether the model extends beyond South Africa and Senegal to additional countries. Several African economies are heavily dependent on fossil fuels (Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Algeria, Libya, Egypt) and could in principle be candidates for JETP-style support, but no additional African JETPs have been announced as of early 2026. The reasons for the slow replication include the complexity of JETP negotiation (each arrangement requires detailed discussions between multiple governments over specific commitments), donor fatigue following the mixed implementation experience in South Africa, and the difficulty of structuring commitments that are acceptable to both donor and recipient governments.
The broader international climate finance architecture has begun to shift toward alternative mechanisms including the Loss and Damage Fund, Green Climate Fund programming, and various bilateral financing arrangements. Whether JETPs continue to be a distinctive category of climate finance or are absorbed into a broader mix of instruments remains an open question.
Alongside JETPs, bilateral donors have made substantial commitments to African energy transition support. The French Development Agency (AFD) has committed EUR 1 billion to African electrification projects in support of Mission 300, representing one of the largest single bilateral commitments to the continental energy sector. The AFD commitment does not use the JETP framework but operates alongside it, providing additional concessional finance for electrification and renewable deployment projects across multiple African countries.
Three indicators will shape African JETPs and adjacent climate finance. First, whether South African JETP implementation accelerates, producing visible project deployment and measurable progress on the coal-to-renewables transition. Second, whether additional African JETPs are announced for coal-dependent countries or for other transition contexts, extending the model beyond its current two African cases. Third, whether alternative climate finance mechanisms including the Loss and Damage Fund and broader Green Climate Fund programming deliver resources at the scale that African energy transitions require. The JETP model is one of the most important recent innovations in climate finance, but its ultimate significance depends on whether it scales beyond its current limited footprint.