Dorothy Maseke

From Pipeline to Portfolio: Structuring Kenya's Blue Economy for Investment

Africa's blue economy holds significant untapped investment potential, but converting ecological assets into bankable transactions requires a deliberate sequence: identifying and preparing viable opportunities, structuring them to manage and reduce risk, and mobilising the capital needed to scale. This keynote, delivered by FSD Africa's Head of Nature Finance Programme, traces that sequence through the organisation's practical experience building Kenya's blue economy pipeline, from pipeline development through to transaction structuring that de-risks opportunities for commercial investors. It will draw on live Kenyan examples, including outcome-based financing models, blended capital stacks combining grants, concessional debt and guarantees, and the emerging Kenya blue-green bond programme, each illustrating how catalytic capital can help mobilise private investment by building a capital stack that commercial investors and financiers are more comfortable bearing.

Throughout this pipeline-to-capital journey, the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA) provides the connective layer linking these transactions to African financial institutions, investors and regulators, helping test whether solutions meet real market needs and ensuring that successful models, once proven in Kenya, are disseminated and replicated across the continent's wider blue finance ecosystem.