Kenya will host a major continental climate finance conference next week, bringing together investors, policymakers, development partners and entrepreneurs to accelerate funding for climate adaptation across Africa.
The Adaptation Investment Summit for Africa 2026 (AISA 2026) will take place in Nairobi on July 6–7, 2026, under the theme “Accelerating Climate Adaptation and Innovation for a Resilient Africa.”
The invitation-only summit is being convened by Kenya Climate Ventures (KCV) in partnership with UNIDO, the Collaborative for Frontier Finance, Impact Investing Kenya, and Care Denmark.
The forum will bring together fund managers, investors, development partners, enterprises and other key players in the climate finance ecosystem to explore ways of expanding private investment in climate adaptation initiatives.
KCV Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Victor Ndiege said the summit coincides with the organization’s 10th anniversary and will provide an opportunity to reflect on a decade of climate impact investing while charting the future of adaptation finance and innovation across the continent.
“The summit aims to advance enterprise-led climate adaptation finance across Africa,” he said.
Ndiege noted that sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change and will require an estimated US$100 billion annually by 2035 to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
He said about 90 per cent of current climate adaptation financing comes from the public sector—including multilateral development banks, governments and bilateral institutions—while the private sector contributes only about 10 per cent, highlighting the need to mobilize more private capital.
According to Ndiege, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a critical role in delivering locally developed climate adaptation technologies, products and services that support the goals of Agenda 2063.
However, he said many climate-focused SMEs face significant barriers to growth, including limited access to suitable financing, inadequate capacity to scale their businesses, and weak ecosystem support to overcome structural and policy challenges.
Founded in 2016, Kenya Climate Ventures is the country’s only climate-focused fund manager licensed by the Capital Markets Authority.
The firm invests in early-stage and growth-stage climate-smart and gender-inclusive businesses operating in sectors such as agribusiness, renewable energy, water, forestry and waste management. Since its inception, KCV has made 23 investments worth approximately US$4 million.
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