The Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) was named the Green Economy Champion at the Association of Startup and SME Enablers of Kenya (ASSEK) Annual Innovation Awards, held on Thursday, November 14, 2025, in Nairobi.
The recognition celebrated KCIC’s critical role in providing incubation, capacity building, and financing to African enterprises that develop climate-smart innovations, thereby accelerating the move towards a more sustainable and resilient economic model across the region. The award was the centerpiece of the annual gathering, which convened under the theme, “Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Promoting Innovation, Inclusivity & Socio-Economic Development”.
The accolade validates KCIC’s decade-long mission to catalyze climate entrepreneurship in Africa. By focusing on businesses that reduce carbon footprints, promote renewable energy, and champion sustainable business models, KCIC’s work translates theoretical sustainability goals into practical, revenue-generating enterprises.
For Africa, where economic growth is often directly threatened by climate vulnerability, organizations like KCIC provide essential infrastructure, not of roads, but of capital and capacity, to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Read also: From dialogue to deals: Africa Climate Investment Summit 2025 paves way for scalable climate finance
The win underscores the vital relationship between robust entrepreneurial support and environmental sustainability. KCIC’s strategy involves strengthening the entire value chain for climate enterprises, positioning them for investor readiness and scale. This approach is crucial given that African nations require significant green investment, estimated in the tens of billions annually, to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
By funding and mentoring these ventures, KCIC acts as a de-risking agent, making climate-focused SMEs attractive to larger institutional funders and development partners. The organization’s work in the waste management sector, for example, which includes programs like the Sustainable Waste Innovation for a Future in Transition (SWIFT), demonstrates this practical commitment to creating economic value while delivering measurable environmental benefits.
The broader ASSEK Annual Conference served as a high-level forum bringing together investors, policymakers, and Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) to foster ecosystem alignment and policy dialogue. Key themes of the event resonated with KCIC’s win, focusing heavily on Financing Sustainable Ventures and Sustainability & Climate Resilience. The event highlighted the need to reimagine capital deployment to fund ventures that are both profitable and socially and environmentally responsible.
While KCIC took the top prize in the green category, the Innovation Awards gala highlighted the diverse commitments across Kenya’s dynamic innovation landscape. Other categories, such as the Sustainability & Impact Award, Inclusive Entrepreneurship Award, and Innovative Policy Leadership Award, spotlighted organizations that demonstrated excellence in driving economic and social change.
The collective recognition across these categories affirms that the future of Kenyan and African enterprise is inherently linked to innovation, inclusivity, and sustainable development.
Partners and attendees from institutions like Garissa University participated actively, emphasizing the role of academia and regional centers in leveraging science, technology, and research to advance inclusive growth, particularly in marginalized areas.
Furthermore, a keynote address delivered by the Chief Executive Officer of the ICEA LION Group, a strategic partner to the conference, focused on the critical lessons for transforming legacy organizations into sustainable futures. This confluence of finance, policy, education, and entrepreneurial support organizations validates the conference’s goal to build a coordinated, continent-wide approach to fostering resilient economies.
The award is not just an acknowledgment of past performance, but a call to scale. KCIC’s dedication, along with its partners and client enterprises, reflects a commitment to ensuring that the entrepreneurial pathway in Africa remains the engine for long-term socio-economic progress while actively mitigating the effects of climate change. The mandate is clear: for Africa, the green economy is not a distant aspiration, but the foundation for the next generation of sustainable development.
Engage with us on LinkedIn: Africa Sustainability Matters
