Hegemonic Governance and Africa’s Climate Adaptation Deficit: A Critical Political Economy of International Finance Flows

Climate Finance is formally recognized as a tool of solidarity to assist vulnerable countries, yet the actual financial flows to the African Region reflect deep structural asymmetries. Therefore, this study is to examine climate finance as a political and power-laden mechanism focusing on its implications for the adaptation of climate agreements in the African region. The qualitative analytical approach based on policy documents, reports, and scholarly literature has been adapted to assess the functioning of mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, and emerging arrangements such as Just Energy Transition Partnerships that support African Nationally Determined Contribution implementation. The debates were drawn from a Neo-Gramscian perspective, arguing that climate finance has reproduced the structures of hegemonic governance, furthering the disparities rather than solving them. The findings reflect a persistent adaptation deficit, showing that Africa receives only a marginal share of global climate finance, and the finance flows are unevenly distributed among sub-regions, with a larger portion received as loans rather than grants. Thus, current dynamics and trends reveal a gradual shift from obligation-based public responsibility toward a market-prone, privatized mode of climate action, weakening the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. Without transformative reforms that prioritize grant-based, needs-driven, yet Africa - centered climate architecture governance, the existing structure might deepen the risks of dependency and undermine the development potential of climate agreements.