A new innovation facility is set to create jobs, encourage entrepreneurship and address climate change in Kenya.
The Kenya Climate Innovation Center, launched Tuesday (Sept. 26), will offer financing, technical assistance, “hands-on mentoring” and other services to climate innovators and entrepreneurs. It is the first of the five CICs being established under the World Bank’s climate technology program.
The center is set to benefit at least 70 climate technology ventures in its first five years. The program expects to be 70 to 100 percent financially sustainable in 10 years. Apart from the World Bank’s infoDev, it currently receives support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and the U.K. Department for International Development.
The center aims to boost locally owned and developed solutions to climate change. It will help accelerate business in a number of sectors, including renewable energy, agriculture and the provision of clean water, according to a press release.
The center will also help provide for critical services in Kenya, such as energy to off-grid communities, adequate sanitation facilities and adaptation technologies for flood or drought control.
Other CIC targeted locations are in India, Ethiopia, South Africa and Vietnam.
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About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
