When the Central Bank of Egypt welcomed its Nigerian counterpart to a sustainable finance conference co-hosted with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, in Cairo this week, the setting went beyond a diplomatic courtesy to a recognition that Africa’s most populous economy may hold the key to ascending a new height of development finance in the continent. At the "Financing for a Sustainable Future" conference, the IFC emphasised its commitment to strengthening Africa's financial flexibility despite climate threats, highlighting the private capital imperatives the continent needs to combat environmental risks that are fast becoming indistinct from economic ones.