Acumen Launches USD 90 M KawiSafi Fund II To Scale Climate Solutions In Africa

Acumen, the nonprofit impact investment pioneer founded in 2001 by Jacqueline Novogratz, has launched its second KawiSafi fund with USD 90 M approved and USD 40 M committed capital to scale climate solutions across Africa.

Building on the first USD 67 M KawiSafi fund launched in 2016, Fund II aims to back entrepreneurs driving Africa’s energy transition in sectors like distributed renewable energy, clean transportation, nature-based carbon solutions, and resilient mobility. Its bold target is to impact 50 million people and avert 50 million tons of CO2 at scale.

“Securing USD 90 M 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.

Anchor investors include the African Development Bank’s SEFA, Green Climate Fund, Schmidt Family Foundation, and Quadrature Climate Foundation. The fund uses a blended finance model designed to de-risk early-stage investments and crowd in private capital.

For Acumen, which has impacted over 500 million lives since inception, Fund II marks a pivotal step in mobilising climate capital toward Africa’s low-carbon, inclusive future.