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Kenya Hosts Climate Summit With Hopes of Debt Restructuring, Green Financing and China’s “Small or Beautiful” Impact on Energy Access

by Njenga Hakeenah
A worker walks past an Africa Climate Summit logo during preparations ahead of the Africa Climate Summit 2023 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya on September 2, 2023. Luis Tato / AFP

A Chinese delegation led by their Minister of Environment, Huang Runqiu, is in Kenya for the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) kicking off today and which will be used as a platform to discuss green financing and debt, among other highlights.

Premised on driving green growth and climate finance solutions for Africa and the world, the summit comes at a time when a significant drop in Chinese financing shows a different model from over two decades ago when project funding was flowing in the billions. The current decline is attributable to China’s “Small or Beautiful” approach, especially in the Belt and Road Initiative and also the challenges some recipient countries have with their debt management.

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