Restore Africa rescue plan put to GEA creditors

Global Evergreening Alliance creditors are being asked to approve a DOCA proposed by a Climate Asset Management-linked entity that would restructure the not-for-profit environmental organisation, preserve parts of its flagship Restore Africa programme and provide a better return than liquidation.

Kathryn Warwick, Joseph Hansell and Vaughan Strawbridge of FTI Consulting were appointed voluntary administrators of Global Evergreening Alliance Limited on 23 March 2026. The second meeting of creditors is scheduled for 10 June 2026, when creditors will decide whether GEA should execute the proposed DOCA, end the administration or be wound up.

GEA was registered as a not-for-profit with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission in May 2018 and operated as an international NGO focused on restoring degraded land and improving smallholder farming systems through nature-based approaches, including evergreening and regenerative agriculture. Its key project was the Restore Africa programme, a multi-country agroforestry and carbon removals initiative operating across Kenya, Uganda and Malawi, with Gold Standard registered projects and anticipated carbon credit issuance from 2027.

The group’s financial position deteriorated after funding disputes emerged under its deed of collaboration with Climate Asset Management. GEA secured US$83 million in committed CAM funding for Restore Africa in July 2022 and had received US$51 million by the time of the administration, but delays in project milestones, budget disagreements and disputes over whether milestone conditions had been satisfied led CAM to withhold further funding. The administrators said GEA became unable to fund ongoing operating and project costs, including work performed by Catholic Relief Services in Uganda and Malawi and World Vision in Kenya.

The directors attributed GEA’s difficulties to delays in milestone approvals and funding disbursements from late 2025 into early 2026, unsuccessful escalation discussions with CAM and worsening cash flow pressure. FTI also identified a misalignment between GEA’s major contracts, an increase in the estimated cost of the Restore Africa programme from US$83 million to US$136 million, the apparent failure to suspend implementing organisations once funding became uncertain, and the complexity of delivering what the administrators described as a first-of-its-kind project.

The administrators’ preliminary view is that GEA was insolvent from 19 February 2026, when CAM gave written notice alleging breaches of the collaboration deed and advised that no further payments would be made until those breaches were cured. FTI said GEA may have been insolvent as early as November 2025 following the dispute over milestone payments, but its current analysis did not identify material recoveries from insolvent trading, voidable transactions or director breach claims.

FTI initially suspended operations to preserve cash and value, while securing $415,000 in short-term holding funding from an individual supporter. The administrators later obtained funding from CAM to repay that initial funding, cover staff and head office costs, meet administration costs and continue agreed Restore Africa activities in Uganda and Malawi in April and May 2026. CAM was granted an exclusivity period to develop a restructuring proposal, which led to the DOCA now before creditors.

The DOCA proposal has been made by Nature Based Carbon Company S.à r.l., an entity related to CAM. It would restructure GEA so the Restore Africa programmes in Uganda and Malawi can continue, with Kenya potentially included depending on CAM’s final position. Non-core arrangements, including the Restoring Trees and Livelihoods in Kenya programme, the Vietnam feasibility study, the EC-ICRAF Thrivelands initiative and the Mirova Philippines programme, would be dealt with separately by the deed administrators.

The proposal includes a $4.84 million deed payment, comprising $746,359 for employee entitlements, $1.73 million for pre-administration Kenya project costs, $1.84 million for Uganda and Malawi project costs, $350,000 for administration, deed administration and trustee costs, and up to $175,000 for other unsecured creditors. A creditors’ trust would be established, allowing GEA to exit external administration after effectuation and enabling distributions to creditors.

FTI estimates priority employee creditors would be paid in full under the DOCA, while Catholic Relief Services and World Vision would each receive 26.5 cents in the dollar and other unsecured creditors would receive approximately 23.6 cents in the dollar. In liquidation, the administrators expect no return to unsecured creditors and no return to priority employee creditors from GEA’s assets, although eligible employees could claim under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme, subject to caps and exclusions.

The administrators recommend creditors approve the DOCA, saying it provides a more certain, faster and superior outcome than liquidation while preserving the opportunity for much of GEA’s business to continue. They said liquidation would be value destructive to Restore Africa and other projects, and that no alternative DOCA proposal has emerged.

Read their report here.