Through these efforts, Boost Africa is fostering innovation and entrepreneurship across Kenya's energy, agriculture, and climate sectors, unlocking significant economic and environmental benefits.

Over five years, EUR 78 million of EIB funds have mobilized nearly EUR 400 million from other investors, benefiting 73 African companies, creating jobs, and helping businesses scale.

Overall, EIB has invested over EUR 3.8 billion across 178 funds in Africa, mobilizing an additional EUR 32.4 billion from other investors, with a focus on high-growth and youth/women-led enterprises.

Despite these successes, about 60% of Kenyan businesses struggle to access credit due to issues like inadequate collateral, high interest rates, and perceived high risks, especially affecting startups and early-stage companies.

The program emphasizes not only capital but also technical support in areas such as impact measurement, ESG compliance, and navigating regulatory environments, helping startups expand regionally and increase revenues.

Financial and technical assistance is provided to fund managers and climate-focused enterprises, focusing on early-stage, high-growth businesses in sectors like energy, agriculture, and healthcare through risk-capital investments and capacity building.

Funding examples include Seedstars Africa Ventures I, which supports startups developing climate-adapted products like solar-powered cold storage and water-efficient irrigation systems.

EIB's support aims to address the challenge faced by climate-focused SMEs in accessing risk-tolerant, early-stage capital by offering flexible financial structures and technical guidance.

EIB employs innovative risk-sharing strategies, such as junior tranches that absorb some losses, to attract private sector investment into African venture capital funds, thereby improving the risk-reward profile for investors.

The European Investment Bank's Boost Africa initiative, in partnership with the African Development Bank and supported by the European Commission, is investing in private equity funds in Kenya to promote climate-smart, resilient enterprises and mobilize private capital.

EIB's investments serve as a foundation for sustainable development in Kenya, where access to finance remains a critical challenge for the private sector's expansion.

One success story is Shamba Pride, an agri-tech firm that expanded its workforce from 4 to over 40 employees and improved access to affordable inputs for 80,000 smallholder farmers and 4,000 agro-dealers, demonstrating the impact of reliable financing.

With EUR 500,000 from the program, Shamba Pride's revenues surged from KSh 5 million to nearly KSh 300 million in three years, and farm productivity increased by 2.5 times.

This initiative helps bridge the financing gap by partnering with local banks and providing capital to financial institutions, which then lend to SMEs under better terms, fostering business growth and supporting Kenya's move towards economic recovery and green growth.