Why Kenya's Banks Don't Lend to Green Projects

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Kenyan Wall Street
May 25, 2026

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Kenya's Banks Have The Money, They Just Won't Lend It Green

By TKWS

With more than 80% of Kenya's installed electricity capacity already from renewable sources, the country's energy transition challenge is not about replacing coal. It is about universal access, decentralised clean energy, and industrial competitiveness. Yet despite the potential, and current glaring need for more and rapid investments in alternative energy sources and climate solutions, Kenya’s banks rarely deploy capital into green sectors.

A new report from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), drawing on direct interviews with commercial banks, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs), microfinance institutions, and insurers across Kenya, resolves the mystery.

Its central finding is illuminating: Kenyan financial institutions are not short of capital, they are short of commercially viable reasons to put that capital into green sectors.

Read the full article here >>>>>

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