UK Forum Seeks to Unlock Billions in Green Manufacturing Investment

Caption: From left, Jesse Moore, Co-Founder and CEO, M-KOPA, and Kartik Jayaram, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company, during the GBB Forum in Nairobi.

Efforts to scale Africa’s green industrial sector received a boost after the UK government convened investors and entrepreneurs in Nairobi to unlock billions of dollars in sustainable manufacturing opportunities.

The Pan-African Green Business Building (GBB) Forum, organised under the UK-funded Manufacturing Africa programme, attracted over 150 participants, including climate-focused startup founders and more than 30 impact investors.

Addressing the forum, Development Director at the British High Commission Nairobi, Diana Dalton, said the initiative highlights the evolving UK–Kenya economic partnership anchored on clean growth and innovation.

“By connecting green manufacturing entrepreneurs with the investment they need to scale, we are turning innovative ideas into viable businesses that will create jobs and drive sustainable growth,” she said.

Manufacturing Africa Programme Team Leader Thomas Pascoe said early-stage support for green enterprises is critical to accelerating industrial transformation across the continent.

“Backing emerging African businesses at this stage strengthens long-term job creation, tax revenues and Africa’s position in global green industrial innovation,” Pascoe noted.

Startups at the forum pitched ventures in electric mobility, renewable energy solutions, recycling and sustainable agriculture inputs, targeting growing demand for climate-smart products.

Research by Manufacturing Africa indicates that green investments could generate between $2 billion and $4 billion annually by 2030 and create at least 200,000 jobs across participating African countries.

The forum builds on the Green Business Building Accelerator launched in 2025, which has supported more than 50 startups in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

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