The study examined the relationship among climate finance (CF), Environmental Risk Accounting (ERA), and firm value for publicly listed non-financial firms in Nigeria and South Africa between 2010 and 2022. Using a carefully balanced panel sample consisting of 520 observations, we construct our independent variables as follows: Climate Finance (CF); Climate Financial Exposure (CFEI), using an AI-powered textual analysis approach; and Greenwashing Gap (GWG). Through fixed effects panel regression, our results indicate that while climate finance does not directly influence firm value, CF and the quality of ERA practices interact positively showing that CF only creates value conditional on high-quality ERA. Greenwashing risk has a negative impact on value creation, but ERA can significantly mitigate its negative impacts. Institutional differences across countries have consequences for the role of ERA. The application of difference-in-difference analysis through the adoption of King IV code by South African firms provides proof of the existence of an appreciable valuation premium by firms in South Africa after the intervention. The reliability of the findings is confirmed using methods such as IV-2SLS, System GMM, Propensity Score Matching, and the Heckman Selection Model. There are important ramifications of the findings for accounting practice and environmental policy within sub-Saharan Africa.