DNK International By Our Correspondent, Nairobi
Kenya is set to host one of Africa’s leading climate finance events, the Adaptation Investment Summit for Africa 2026 (AISA 2026), which will take place in Nairobi from July 6 to 7.
The high-level, invitation-only summit will bring together investors, fund managers, development partners, policymakers, enterprises and other key players in the climate finance ecosystem to explore innovative solutions for strengthening climate resilience across the continent.
The conference is being convened by Kenya Climate Ventures (KCV) in partnership with UNIDO, Collaborative for Frontier Finance, Impact Investing Kenya and Care Denmark under the theme: “Accelerating Climate Adaptation and Innovation for a Resilient Africa.”
Kenya Climate Ventures is the country’s only climate-focused fund manager licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Established in 2016, the organization invests in early-stage and growth-stage climate-smart and gender-inclusive enterprises, particularly in agribusiness, water, renewable energy, forestry and waste management.
Since its inception, KCV has made 23 impact-driven investments worth approximately USD 4 million.
Speaking ahead of the summit, KCV Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Victor Ndiege said the event marks a decade of climate impact investing by the organization while laying the foundation for the next phase of climate adaptation financing across Africa.
“The Summit marks 10 years of climate impact investing by Kenya Climate Ventures and serves as a platform to reflect on lessons learned while shaping the next decade of adaptation investment, venture building, market development and collaboration,” said Ndiege.
He noted that the summit seeks to accelerate enterprise-led climate adaptation finance across Africa at a time when the continent faces increasing climate-related challenges.
According to Ndiege, sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change and will require an estimated USD 100 billion annually by 2035 to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Currently, about 90 percent of climate adaptation financing comes from the public sector—including multilateral development banks, national governments and bilateral institutions—while the private sector contributes only 10 percent.
“The climate adaptation market in Africa is a rapidly growing, high-potential sector facing a massive and urgent funding gap. SMEs are central to Agenda 2063 in promoting innovation, creativity and decent work for all,” he said.
Ndiege emphasized that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are well-positioned to deliver locally relevant climate adaptation technologies, products and solutions.
However, he observed that many continue to face challenges in commercializing their innovations due to limited access to appropriate financing, inadequate capacity to scale their businesses, and weak ecosystem support to overcome structural and policy barriers.
The summit is expected to provide a platform for stakeholders to forge partnerships, mobilize investment and strengthen Africa’s climate adaptation ecosystem as the continent works towards building resilience against the growing impacts of climate change.
[DNK-International@June 30,2026]
