Amazon-Backed Carbon Project to Create 11,000 Jobs in South Africa’s Eastern Cape

Amazon has committed to one of the world’s largest nature-based carbon removal programmes, backing a land restoration project in South Africa’s Eastern Cape that is expected to create approximately 11,000 jobs and generate more than $500 million in local economic value by 2030.
The company has agreed to purchase 1.95 million tonnes of high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits generated by the project, which centres on restoring the Albany thicket, a degraded ecosystem spanning the Eastern Cape. The initiative will see 180 million spekboom shrubs planted across more than 50,000 hectares of exhausted land — an area twice the size of the city of Seattle — by the end of 2028.
Project Details
Spekboom, a drought-resistant succulent native to the region, has been identified by researchers as capable of removing carbon from the atmosphere at rates comparable to young tropical forests. The plant also restores soil moisture and health, creating conditions for native grasses, shrubs and trees to return, along with the birds, insects and mammals that depend on them.
The project’s first phase — 30 million plants across 10,000 hectares — has been under way since April 2024. According to the Eastern Cape provincial government, that phase has already created 1,600 jobs ahead of the broader rollout.
Amazon’s total investment is estimated at R1.5 billion, according to the Eastern Cape provincial government. The project is being implemented by ecosystem restoration company Imperative in partnership with NatCarbon Africa, and is expected to eventually restore 100,000 hectares of degraded indigenous vegetation across the province.
Employment and Economic Impact
Amazon said the programme is expected to create about 11,000 jobs by 2030 and generate more than $500 million in economic value for local communities through wages, procurement, landowner payments and community investment. The Eastern Cape has one of South Africa’s highest unemployment rates, and provincial officials have described the project as a model for linking environmental restoration to job creation.
Much of the work — harvesting, planting, monitoring and land management — is being carried out through local small and medium-sized enterprises. The World Bank, which is co-financing the project’s expansion, said the initiative is designed to create jobs through small and medium-sized enterprises involved in planting, monitoring and land management, combined with formal training and skills transfer for workers.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said at the project’s launch in Jansenville that the investment “positions the Eastern Cape as a destination for global climate finance and green investment.” The provincial government noted that the project forms part of a broader pattern of Amazon investment in South Africa, which it said has totalled more than R42 billion over the past two decades across data centres, logistics, renewable energy and digital skills training.
Financing Structure
The project’s expansion is being funded in part through a new financial instrument issued by the World Bank. In April 2026, the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development priced a $120 million Spekboom Restoration Outcome Bond, its longest-dated outcome bond to date, maturing in 2040. The bond offers institutional investors full principal protection along with a coupon linked in part to the project’s measurable environmental outcomes, including carbon credit revenue generated from sales to Amazon.
Investors in the bond include Nuveen, AllianceBernstein, Legal & General Group, Mackenzie Investments and Morgan Stanley Investment Management, according to the World Bank. The bond is expected to mobilise approximately $25 million in private capital to support the 50,000-hectare expansion. Amazon’s long-term agreement to purchase carbon credits from the project underpins the bond’s structure, according to World Bank officials.
“This outcome bond shows how capital markets can be mobilized to support large land restoration projects while aligning investor returns with measurable results that strengthen livelihoods and create jobs,” said Anshula Kant, the World Bank’s managing director and chief financial officer, in a statement announcing the bond.
Certification and Oversight
The project holds an “AA.pre” Standalone Rating from BeZeroCarbon, an independent agency that assesses the quality of carbon credits, placing it among the highest-rated afforestation, reforestation and revegetation projects globally. It is being registered under the Verra carbon registry and is expected to meet the ABACUS label and Climate, Community & Biodiversity certification standards. The United Nations has separately recognised the spekboom restoration effort as one of its World Restoration Flagship initiatives. The project area is currently home to 165 recorded plant and animal species, including several considered vulnerable by conservationists.
Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, Kara Hurst, said the project reflects the company’s broader approach to climate investment. The company has said the initiative forms part of its Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.