Announced at the Adaptation Investment Summit for Africa 2026 in Nairobi, the signing underlines the strategic importance of the partnership and marks a new phase of cooperation between the two institutions.
“Advancing climate resilience and adaptation financing through existing initiatives such as the Kenya Uganda Adaptation Accelerator (KUAA) project and the ACT programme (Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee), as well as new initiatives like the Africa Climate Adaptation Investment Catalyst Initiative, and cooperating across the Kenyan coffee value chain underlines our shared commitment and ambition to scale up adaptation finance,” said Marko van Waveren Hogervorst, Programme Officer and Climate Finance Expert at UNIDO.
Leveraging complementary expertise to scale investments for greater impact
The cooperation brings together UNIDO’s market development and acceleration expertise from its climate adaptation project portfolio and work on the climate-resilient transformation of the coffee sector across Sub-Saharan Africa with KCV’s experience in enterprise support and managing early-stage financing vehicles. As a climate-focused fund manager and climate impact investor, KCV helps to de-risk early- and growth-stage, gender-inclusive, climate-smart enterprises.
By leveraging their complementary expertise, instruments, networks and access to climate finance providers, the partners intend to strengthen the mobilization of domestic and international capital to scale sustainable, inclusive, climate-resilient and impact-driven investments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Connecting the dots
The Joint Declaration provides a framework for collaboration in areas such as strengthening investment frameworks and impact methodologies, market intelligence, joint events and the co-development of dedicated climate finance initiatives. This includes the co-creation and harmonization of impact assessments and the application of UNIDO’s Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) tool to guide financing decisions and align with international best practice. It also formalizes the partners’ intention to engage in each other’s platforms and forums, fostering continued exchange and alignment.
The cooperation also illustrates the catalytic role of UNIDO’s Division of Innovative Finance and International Financial Institutions (IET/IFI), which acts as a strategic bridge between technical cooperation teams and public and private financial institutions. By connecting UNIDO’s technical expertise with KCV’s early-stage finance, the partnership supports efforts to catalyze and mobilize public and private capital at scale and increase impact.
Peer learning and knowledge exchange
As climate finance in Sub-Saharan Africa needs to grow, partnerships such as this demonstrate how well-aligned institutions can translate shared expertise into practical solutions that support enterprises and SMEs, develop markets and mobilize public and private capital to advance inclusive and sustainable industrial development.
The partners also intend to continue bringing together investors, fund managers, development partners, policymakers, enterprises and ecosystem actors committed to advancing climate adaptation finance and enterprise resilience across the region through peer learning and knowledge exchange activities.
“This Joint Declaration marks an important step in advancing climate adaptation finance across Africa. By combining UNIDO's global expertise with Kenya Climate Ventures' experience in enterprise development and climate investing, we are strengthening pathways to unlock investment, scale climate-smart enterprises and build resilient economies. We look forward to translating this collaboration into tangible impact for communities and businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa.” said Victor Ndiege, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Climate Ventures.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
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