March 2026

The Climate-Compatible Growth (CCG) Annual Workshop held in February 2026 brought government institutions, academia, development partners, and practitioners to reflect on progress, exchange knowledge, and strengthen collaboration in advancing climate-compatible growth in Kenya.

The annual workshop is a retrospective event that looks at:

~CCG Kenya Research work (The academic angle)

~Policies, Legislation and Frameworks that have been influenced by the research work

~Special interest groups unique initiatives that build the stakeholders involvement in National and Sub-national (County) initiatives

~Strategic Partnerships that have been built with National and County governments, sector players like SNV, WRI, GIZ, WEEE Centre, GAMOS-MECS, CCAK, EMAK, Practical Action, AccessCoalition and others,

~Celebrating the achievements and strategising proceeding working arrangements

During the opening session, Prof. Izael Da Silva, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Strathmore University, underscored Kenya’s unique demographic advantage. Beyond enjoying year-round sunshine, Kenya, like much of Africa, has a rapidly growing population with an average age of just 20, while populations in parts of the Global North and Asia are in decline.

He noted that this youthful demographic gives Kenya an opportunity to leapfrog in building green skills for the continent’s fast-expanding renewable energy sector. As capacity grows, he urged development partners that Africa’s development must remain African-led: there is nothing for Africa without Africa.

CCG has been working with Kenya since 2021 as its first partner country. As she reflected on the five-year journey, Dr. Lara Allen, CEO of the Centre for Global Equality, emphasized that CCG has demonstrated how energy can drive sustainable change through rigorous, locally grounded research and interventions rooted in Kenyan realities.

Some of the notable contributions the program has made among others over the years include its contribution towards climate action in Kenya and beyond, as captured below.

The Kenya CCG Network has contributed to the development of Key policy documents that contribute to climate action:

~National Energy and Petroleum Policy 2026

~National Electric Mobility Policy 2026

~Integrated National Energy Planning Regulations 2025

~Kenya National eCooking Strategy 2024-2030

~Kenya Cooking Transition Strategy 2024-2030

~Least Cost Power Development Plan 2024-2043

~The Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP IV) 2023–2027

The two-day workshop was a mix of presentations on the integrated energy planning landscape, integrating open source tools into the Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPDP), county energy planning, the climate entrepreneurship landscape integrating Gender, Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion in integrated energy planning, review of the Political Economy Modelling Toolkit and exploring avenues for incorporating CCG tools in government, academia and industry exploring setting up an MSc Flatpack and Executive courses.

Researchers from the Climate Compatible Growth Network shared cutting-edge insights and evidence-based approaches, reinforcing how research, policy, and practice can work together to accelerate Climate Compatible Growth and long-term sustainability.

✅ Mourice Kausya – The dynamics of informal electricity demand with systems thinking.

✅ Alois Mbutura – Creating Minimum Data Guidelines to merge county reporting into the Integrated National Energy Plan (INEP)

✅ Emma Richardson – The role of natural gas in Kenya’s future power system: A modelling under uncertainty understanding.

✅ Leonhard Hofbauer – County-national energy system modelling to support energy planning in line with the Integrated National Energy Plan (INEP).

✅ Manuel Salas – Geospatial Tools for Energy Access – Improving and adding dimensions of analyses to geospatial modelling.

The network also contains seven Special Interest Groups known as (SIGS): National Energy Planning, County Energy Planning, Low Emission Transport, Policy Pathways, Clean Cooking, Climate Entrepreneurship and Climate Land Energy Water. The SIGS discussed systemic barriers and solutions. Some of the solutions that cut across include strengthening existing policy frameworks, addressing data access challenges, a one-stop shop for licensing, and including all stakeholders from the beginning of each process to ensure buy-in.

The two-day event kicked off with a presentation of work in the climate entrepreneurship space where Dr. Churchill Saoke presented on the UK PACT Funded work on Energy Makers Academy. The presentation shared by Dr. Saoke set the stage for discussions and group work that looked beyond energy planning, which looked at themes on productive use of renewable energy in transport, agriculture, education, clean cooking and industrialisation. Dr. Kuthea Nguti presented another angle where there was intersection of inclusive energy planning, entrepreneurship and training in institutions.

As the workshop concluded, discussions reaffirmed that meaningful progress is built at the intersection of innovation, inclusion, and evidence-led action. Robina Abuya of British High Commission – Climate Change Portfolio Manager, expressed the pleasure to work with CCG global and CCG Kenya teams as they had achieved so while working with government, academia and industry.

She expressed confidence in the way the university supported the CCG program and assured support in all the in-country initiatives. Dr. Faith Wandera-Odongo, Director of Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy, reiterated the ministry’s appreciation of CCG as a valued partner over the past five years and expressed its commitment to continued co-creation of research, training and collaboration in advancing climate compatible growth in Kenya.

Article written by Anne Njoroge, Communications Officer, Strathmore Energy Research Centre.