Kenya has reaffirmed its commitment to becoming Africa’s hub for climate action and green investment as leaders, financiers, and innovators convened in Nairobi yesterday, for the Second African Climate Investment Summit (ACIS), organized by the Kenya Climate Innovation Centre (KCIC).
The conference brought together public and private sector actors from across the continent to explore practical pathways to scale up climate financing and entrepreneurship in Africa.
Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Dr. Deborah Barasa, officially opened the summit, terming it a crucial platform for mobilizing capital, partnerships, and innovation across the continent.
“This conference acts as a continental platform designed to mobilize capital, build partnerships, and scale climate-smart enterprises across Africa,” she said.
“Africa must leverage the global shift in investment and innovation to turn vulnerability into opportunity.”
Dr. Barasa noted that Africa possesses immense natural capital, from vast solar and wind potential to rich forests and critical minerals that can drive the global green transition.
However, she decried that access to climate finance remains slow, complex, and inequitably distributed.
She emphasized that Kenya, under President William Ruto’s leadership, is positioning itself as a global hub for climate action through predictable policies and robust regulatory frameworks.
“We have finalized the Climate Change Regulations 2025 to create a transparent framework for carbon markets and are developing policies to promote green bonds and public-private partnerships in the climate space,” she said.
“Our message to the global investment community is clear — Kenya is open for green business.”
Dr. Barasa added that Kenya’s second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2031–2035 requires an estimated USD 62 billion, of which the government will mobilize 90 per cent from domestic resources, leaving a USD 45 billion investment opportunity for the private sector.
Dr. Barasa urged investors to see Africa beyond risk narratives and to recognize it as the world’s most promising emerging market for green investment.
“Let us not be defined by speeches or pledges but by projects implemented. Let this summit mark the start of closing Africa’s climate finance gap,” she said
Dr. Barasa reaffirmed the government’s full support for innovators and investors seeking to scale climate solutions, while Murabula and partners pledged to translate commitments made at the summit into actionable projects.
“Let us move from talk to transformation,” Dr. Barasa urged. “From vulnerability to opportunity, from promises to progress.”
KCIC Chief Executive Officer Joseph Murabula underscored the need for a structured ecosystem to channel private capital into climate enterprises across the continent.
He said despite Africa’s immense potential, less than 20 per cent of climate finance on the continent comes from private sources, and only about five per cent of that is equity.
“Private capital is not flowing at the scale required because the financial ecosystem is fragmented,” he said. “It’s time we stop building cars one by one and start building highways — the infrastructure that ensures investment flows to climate enterprises.”
Murabula announced that this year’s summit would see the launch of the Africa Climate Investment Platform, a digital marketplace connecting investors, innovators, and policymakers. In addition, KCIC will unveil a catalytic revolving fund to address the equity gap for small and medium-sized green enterprises.
“Our mission is to build the Africa Climate Investment Highway — an ecosystem where innovators, financiers, and policymakers move in sync,” he said.
“If we harmonize policies and mobilise domestic resources such as pension funds and banking capital, Africa can unlock trillions of dollars sitting idle within its borders.”
Murabula encouraged entrepreneurs to take advantage of the platform to showcase viable solutions and attract investment. He also called for harmonized policies across African countries to create a single green investment market.
“When we leave this summit, let us not just count the number of attendees but build one strong coalition committed to constructing the financial architecture for Africa’s green future,” he concluded.
Joao Cunha, Division Manager for Renewable Energy at the African Development Bank (AfDB), said the Bank is rethinking how to finance Africa’s green transition by prioritizing smaller, high-impact projects.
“The AfDB is traditionally known for large-scale infrastructure projects, but through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, we are shifting to support startups and private-sector ventures driving innovation,” he said.
Cunha highlighted Africa’s paradox: while it contributes less than 4 per cent of global emissions, it bears the greatest burden of climate impacts, losing between 2 to 5 per cent of GDP annually to climate-related damage — a figure projected to rise to USD 50 billion by 2050.
He criticized the global climate finance system, noting that Africa receives less than 3.5 per cent of global climate funding despite growing investment flows worldwide.
“This is not just a funding gap; it is a justice gap,” Cunha said. “The world is writing trillion-dollar checks for the green transition, but Africa is getting only a fraction.”
He said the Bank is bridging this gap through risk capital, venture funding, and blended finance models, including support for venture builders such as the Kawisafi Fund II and investments in mini-grid platforms and climate-tech ventures focused on women and youth.
“Our role is not only to invest but to de-risk markets and prove the commercial viability of African climate tech,” he said. “Let us turn climate risk into climate resilience and Africa’s potential into prosperity.”
Emmanuel Etaderhi, Executive Secretary of the Financial Centre for Sustainability, called for innovative and disruptive financial structures to accelerate green financing in Africa.
He argued that traditional banks remain reluctant to fund climate-resilient projects and urged stakeholders to “copy and adapt” successful models from other countries.
“If fossil-fuel projects can easily get bank loans, green enterprises should be able to walk into a bank and get a green loan,” he said.
“We should replicate models like the U.S. Green Bank Coalition, which channels billions into renewable projects across all states.”
Etaderhi said Africa must view climate change not as a burden but as a business opportunity. He cited the success of electric vehicle makers such as Tesla and BYD, urging African entrepreneurs to learn from and localize such innovations.
“Climate change business is a profitable business,” he said. “If others can turn clean energy into wealth, Africa can too — but we must act now and be deliberate.
By Darlene Kuria and Naif Rashid
