Seed sprouting./photo;Pexel
Acumen, the global impact investor building markets to solve poverty, has launched its second KawiSafi fund, focused on accelerating climate solutions across Africa.
The fund has $90 million in approved capital, including $40 million in committed capital, for its for-profit investment strategy.
KawiSafi Fund II aims to support fast-growing African companies that address climate challenges while creating jobs and meeting everyday needs.
Its focus areas include energy access, clean transportation, and nature-based carbon solutions.
The fund hopes to positively impact 50 million people and prevent 50 million tons of CO₂ emissions at scale.
Building on a Proven Track Record
The fund follows the success of the first KawiSafi fund, a $67 million clean energy initiative launched in 2016, which helped communities access clean energy and build economic resilience.
That fund laid the groundwork for catalytic climate finance in Africa, demonstrating how strategic investment can both generate returns and create social impact.
“Securing $90 million for a successor KawiSafi fund is a major milestone and a signal to the market: capital can and must flow toward a more inclusive, low-carbon future,” said Amar Inamdar, Managing Director of the KawiSafi funds.
“We are backing the entrepreneurs who are building scalable business models that turn climate challenges into growth opportunities across Africa.”
Addressing Africa’s Climate Challenges
Climate change disproportionately affects Africa.
The continent is home to the majority of the world’s poorest people and receives only 6 percent of global investment flows.
Droughts, floods, and rising seas could push an additional 100 million people into poverty worldwide.
Fund II supports business models addressing these structural risks.
The fund targets distributed renewable energy, clean cooking technologies, resilient transportation, and access to carbon finance solutions that directly improve livelihoods while reducing environmental harm.
By investing in African entrepreneurs and local businesses, the fund aims to ensure solutions are locally grounded, scalable, and sustainable.
Supporting Africa’s Energy Transition
Expanding access to clean energy requires investment beyond traditional electricity grids, especially in communities that have historically been excluded.
Fund II is channeling capital to African-based entrepreneurs who are building the foundation for a low-carbon future.
“The KawiSafi fund comes to market at a critical time, offering much-needed venture and growth capital to emerging businesses advancing energy access and the energy transition,” said João Duarte Cunha, Head of Division of the African Development Bank, which oversees SEFA.
“Our support for this fund reflects the Bank’s broader commitment to scaling innovative low-carbon solutions and mobilizing private capital to accelerate Africa’s clean energy future.”
Philanthropy Meets Private Investment
The fund uses a blended finance approach, combining philanthropic or concessional funding with private investment to reduce early-stage risk for investors.
This helps attract more capital to enterprises that can deliver both financial returns and measurable social and environmental impact.
“Each dollar of concessional funding helps unlock greater participation from private and institutional investors by absorbing early-stage risk,” the press release notes.
With a robust pipeline in place, the fund is well-positioned to deploy capital to enterprises that are poised to drive systemic change in Africa’s climate and energy landscape.
“The KawiSafi funds show that distributed clean energy solutions can drive Africa’s energy transition and economic transformation,” said Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen.
“This milestone brings together years of learning, a coalition of committed partners, and the local insight needed to scale climate solutions where they are needed most.”
About KawiSafi and Acumen
KawiSafi is Acumen’s for-profit investment platform focused on accelerating Africa’s energy transition.
It designs and manages climate finance strategies that mobilize catalytic capital to support inclusive, low-carbon growth.
Fund II builds on nearly a decade of experience investing in companies that expand access to clean energy and drive economic resilience.
Acumen is a global force of entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators working together to build a world based on dignity.
Founded by Jacqueline Novogratz on the radical idea that business, when cultivated with moral imagination, can break the cycle of poverty, Acumen invests in transformational companies, builds sustainable markets, and prepares leaders with the tools they need to create a more just and inclusive future.
Since 2001, Acumen has scaled companies and shaped markets in some of the hardest-to-reach communities on the planet, impacting over half a billion lives.
