Victoria Sabula @VictoriaSabula

Africa is embracing clean energy at an impressive pace, with solar panels, batteries, and electric mobility solutions reaching more homes, businesses, and communities every year. As we celebrate this progress, there is another conversation we need to have. What happens when these technologies reach the end of their useful life? If we do not put the right systems in place today, the tools helping us build a cleaner future could create a waste problem of their own. Recycling, responsible disposal, and product recovery need to be part of the journey from the start. I share my thoughts on this in my latest op-ed. Read the article here: standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/articl…

Here’s the question that defined my time at the 8th #GEFAssembly2026 in Samarkand last week: If local enterprises are building the solutions they need for climate resilience, why is capital still failing to reach them on the terms they need? In Africa, 50% of enterprises are credit-constrained and face rigid collateral requirements, short loan tenors, high interest rates, limited credit history, and repayment structures that do not reflect how their businesses earn. Yet, we are counting on these same enterprises to strengthen food systems, expand clean energy access, and build resilience in communities exposed to climate shocks. Having focused our work on supporting early-stage and high-potential businesses that commercial finance may not yet understand to become more investable over time, it was encouraging to see an ecosystem view reflected across the different sessions: Alongside Jason Spensley, Alois Posekufa MHLANGA, Sanjay Wagle, and Qongqong Hoohlo, we discussed how community-driven solutions can move from grassroots innovation to investment readiness. Alongside Cam Do, Ramzi Issa, Patricia Idrobo, Gregory Watson and Oliver Withers, we explored how blended finance can bridge the funding gap, and what it takes for public, private, and development capital to work together in ways that deliver real outcomes. Alongside Matthieu Pegon, Aleksandra Liaplina, Eli Binder, Alex Mugabo and Sanjay Wagle, we went deeper into the practical question of how blended finance is structured, from outcome bonds to SME finance, and what this means for enterprises on the ground. The takeaway from these sessions was clear: when blended finance is structured well, it does more than close a financing gap. It builds new markets by giving enterprises the capital, time, and support to prove their models. It can provide longer-tenor financing, bridge viability gaps, fund the investment-readiness gap, and signal credibility to investors who may otherwise view these businesses as too early or too risky. The measure of success cannot only be how much private capital is mobilized. The real test is additionality - how much capital reached enterprises that commercial finance would not have served on its own? How many livelihoods have been improved, and did it build resilience and create opportunities for communities most exposed to climate and economic shocks? My thanks to Jason Spensley, Avril Benchimol, Matthew Reddy, and Alois Posekufa MHLANGA for the thoughtful planning and for creating space for such practical and necessary conversations. #GEFAssembly2026

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The IMF's latest Regional Economic Outlook tells a familiar story for Sub-Saharan Africa, one of resilience tested by rising debt costs, weaker external demand, climate shocks, and global uncertainty. But beyond the caution, businesses across the continent are still building and adapting, often without access to the patient capital they need for growth, which I think is worth paying attention to. As I go through the report, the question for me is whether we are financing Africa’s future with enough ambition. Too much capital still bypasses the sectors and entrepreneurs that are central to long-term resilience, including renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, local manufacturing, digital infrastructure, and women-led enterprises. In @AECFAfrica's experience, we have seen what targeted capital can unlock in places many investors overlook. For example, investment in a drinking water enterprise in Kakuma is expanding access in a setting often defined by fragility. In Somalia, partnerships with microfinance institutions are opening credit opportunities for women and young entrepreneurs in Mogadishu who had long been excluded from formal finance. Across Tanzania, support to businesses supplying improved seed varieties is helping smallholder farmers raise productivity and strengthen local food systems. These experiences demonstrate that opportunity exists across Africa, but capital must be willing to meet it where it is. Where do you think financing should be flowing right now to protect the gains Africa has made? Read the IMF report here: imf.org/en/publication…

Today, we celebrate Africa. It's people, cultures, resilience, and the shared ambition shaping the continent’s future. The @AECFAfrica is proud to be African-led, African-based, and committed to investing in entrepreneurs and businesses that build stronger communities, create jobs, and expand opportunities across the continent. As we mark #AfricaDay, we reaffirm our belief in an Africa that is innovative, inclusive, prosperous, and driven by its people. Happy Africa Day.

In the development space, energy access is often discussed in terms of investments, enterprises, and programmes. On the ground, it looks like this. This lamp may not look like much, but for Catherine Wakhu, a resident of Mavinda village in Kakamega County, Kenya, it has changed how her family experiences the night. It means cooking without rushing before dark, helping her children finish homework at night, moving around her homestead more safely, and saving money that would otherwise go to kerosene. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, millions of people still live without reliable electricity. What continues to inspire us is the growing number of local businesses building practical energy solutions for underserved communities. Through our work with clean energy enterprises, we have seen how small solar products and off-grid solutions are improving everyday life in ways statistics cannot fully capture. Sometimes, impact is as simple as a light turning on in a home after sunset.

Traditional cooking remains a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Tanzania, reflecting a wider pattern across Sub-Saharan Africa, where reliance on polluting fuels remains widespread. In Tanzania, around 90% of households lack access to clean cooking, with firewood and charcoal accounting for over 85–90% of cooking energy use. @AECFAfrica's Tanzania Clean Cooking Project (TCCP) is addressing this gap by working with energy companies, including two focused specifically on expanding access to cleaner cooking. Through AVAD and TEMA Traders, the project is making LPG more accessible to low-income households using pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) models, lowering upfront costs and easing the shift away from traditional fuels. LPG plays an important role as a transitional fuel, offering a practical and scalable pathway toward cleaner, healthier cooking, especially for households that cannot yet access fully renewable alternatives. Beyond the programme, this work is helping to build a stronger market for clean cooking solutions, supporting businesses that are contributing to reduced emissions, improved health outcomes, and more sustainable energy use. @Sida @SwedeninTZ

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Just back from the Skoll World Forum, and I am still carrying the energy of it. The conversations went far beyond tweaking what already exists. They were about rebuilding systems so that people and the planet can truly thrive. From climate, inequality, and health systems, to re‑imagining economies and institutions, the focus was clear: crises can be moments not just to respond, but to redesign what is broken. I have attended many forums, but this one felt different. There was an authenticity to the community – a genuine recognition of the power of partnerships, local ownership, and the indispensable role of those most proximate to the challenges we are trying to solve. The voices of the communities we seek to uplift were not ancillary; they were central. I am deeply grateful to everyone who made time to sit down with me and engage on our work at @AECFAfrica, as we look to improve the lives of marginalized communities by surfacing scalable, private‑sector‑led solutions. And what a buzz around Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Some of the most meaningful moments happened in coffee shops over a cup of coffee or sparkling water. Conversations with institutional leaders and changemakers. No slides, just shared purpose and curiosity about what we could solve together. Thank you to the @SkollFoundation  - Marla Blow and team, and to everyone who showed up so openly, so genuinely. Heart people were here 😊, and the world needs more of these in rooms. Now to do what we promised to do 😄. #SkollWorldForum #SystemsChange #ImpactInvesting #AECF

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Sharing a glimpse of what I have been reading lately and the books that have quietly kept me company. It has been a mix of ideas and stories, with a few that made me pause a little longer than expected. Always open to recommendations. Which others would you add? 😊

Looking forward to the @SkollWorldForum next week and the chance to engage with many wonderful people who care deeply about driving meaningful, lasting change. I have the opportunity to join the India Impact House in one of the sessions on what it takes to build ecosystems that the Global South can truly own. #AECF #SkollWorldForum #GlobalSouth #InclusiveGrowth #Africa #SystemsChange #ImpactInvesting #SocialInnovation

At Nyakonyango Farms in Homabay, Leah’s aquaculture journey shows the power of male champions in advancing women-led enterprises. With the support of her husband, George, what started as a small fish farming venture has grown into a thriving business that creates jobs for women and youth, strengthens household incomes, and improves food security in the community. Through AECF’s Investing in Women in the Blue Economy in Kenya (IIW-BEK) program, supported by @GAC_Corporate , we are seeing how male allyship helps shift gender norms and unlock women’s leadership in sectors traditionally dominated by men. #AECF #IIWBEK #BlueEconomy #WomenEconomicEmpowerment #MaleChampions #GenderEquality #Aquaculture #Kenya

This piece by @TheEconomist picks up on a familiar shift and a topic that keeps showing up in conversation. Capital is available across Africa, including sizeable domestic pools, but moving it is the challenge. Funds are not consistently reaching the enterprises and sectors that need them most. Part of that stems from macro instability, but much of it is structural. Shallow capital markets, inconsistent regulatory environments, and limited risk appetite create a bottleneck resulting in what feels like an hourglass effect where resources are at the top, demand is at the bottom, and very little passes through the middle. The gap is more striking when you look at institutional capital. For example, pension funds are heavily allocated to government securities, while SMEs struggle to access patient, local currency financing. That disconnect leaves a gap between long-term domestic capital and the productive sectors that can absorb it. Surprisingly, the investment activity we are seeing in Africa already signals confidence. As global attention shifts to new markets, the continent is well-positioned to attract more capital. However, the harder work lies closer to home, including deepening local capital markets, building credible investment vehicles, and creating avenues for institutional capital to participate actively. Until that middle layer functions better, the flow will remain constrained, regardless of how much capital sits on either end. Here is the link to the full article: economist.com/international/…

We have been working closely with Kenya’s Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs for some time and yesterday, we formalized this partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding. Over the last few years, we have seen what a more intentional approach to blue economy value chains can unlock. Through the Investing in Women in the Blue Economy in Kenya initiative, women-led enterprises are seeing higher returns, value chains are becoming more efficient, and women's access to productive assets is shifting how households think about earnings, investment, and decision-making. It has been inspiring to see how private‑sector engagement can unlock the full potential of natural resources, transforming them into meaningful economic opportunities that uplift women - particularly in rural communities - through increased jobs, enterprise growth, and greater participation in value chains. I am grateful for the continued engagement and leadership of @PS_Betsy_Njagi, Principal Secretary for Blue Economy and Fisheries @Blue_Economy_F, whose approach has helped shape a more forward-looking direction for the sector. Kenya’s blue economy holds real potential, and there is still much to build together. @HassanAliJoho @ForeignOfficeKE

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Had the privilege of hosting a delegation from the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), @AECFAfrica led by CEO Victoria Sabula @VictoriaSabula. During the meeting, and on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary for Mining Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs @MiBeMa_2022 , H.E. @HassanAliJoho we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the fields of the Blue Economy, fisheries, and aquaculture between the Ministry of Mining Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs—through the State Department for the Blue Economy and Fisheries @Blue_Economy_F and AECF. The MoU establishes a framework through which both parties will facilitate and promote collaboration in key priority areas, with the aim of identifying joint programmes and projects of mutual interest, particularly those that support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the sector.

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Along the way, I had the pleasure of engaging with leaders shaping the investment space, including Ethiopis Tafara, Regional Vice President Africa, at IFC, and Rt Hon Mark Simmonds, former UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa and current Chairman of the Advisory Board of Invest Africa. And what a privilege to draw on the energy of the exceptional African MBA students – a special mention to my former colleague Maureen Wambui and our panel moderator Gathoni Mwai What stayed with me is how closely these conversations connect in practice. The partnerships being built, the questions around cost of capital, and the people driving both are all pointing to the same thing: investment will only move at the pace of how well it fits real market conditions. That is where the work sits, and I am grateful to the people pushing it forward.

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Last week made for so much learning. My first stop was the Action Learning Exchange (ALE) in London, a convening by @FCDOGovUK and @AGRA_Africa that is building partnerships to scale investment in Africa’s food trade corridors. The conversation focused on unlocking high‑potential opportunities within the continent’s food trade corridors, expanding market access across intra‑Africa and global food markets, strengthening AI and data infrastructure for food trade, and innovative financing models to support the future of food markets. Thank you, @S_Mansoor_A and Daniel Njiwa. Later in the week, I attended the Oxford Africa Business Forum and joined the panel titled “The Cost of Capital — Rethinking Investment in an Age of Global Uncertainty,” where the discussion explored why capital remains expensive across African markets and how to unlock affordable, longer-term finance at scale. Different rooms, same thread.

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Was pleased to host @VictoriaSabula the Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) who passionately updated me on the work of the AECF and in particular the transformation they are creating for rural and marginalized communities through enterprise. While celebrating the numerous innovations in Kenya 🇰🇪 we also discussed the urgency of public - private partnerships to enhance #FinancialInclusion especially to ensure access to cheaper credit for young entrepreneurs and women. @InvestKenya_ @KenyaMissionUK

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As a woman in business, catalytic funding has changed not only my business but also myself. Our model of working with rural women farmers in South Sudan was often dismissed by mainstream financiers in the country - Joy Ladu - Ubuntu Company #IWD2026 #IWD #InternationalWomensDay

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