This Matchmaking and Discovery event brings together Kenyan entrepreneurs working in tree planting, agroforestry, and land restoration with investors and financial institutions. Local enterprises seeking partnerships and investment will have the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to potential investors. Local banks and international funders will also explore practical approaches to financing nature-based enterprises, including through blended finance (which combines public and private capital).

Objectives – Day 1

1. Facilitating Access to Appropriate Finance: Connect investment-ready enterprises with impact investors, commercial banks, non-banking financial institutions, microfinance institutions, SACCOs, and other financial service providers to secure funding for working capital and capital investments.
2. Capacity Development Needs Assessment:

• Enable LFIs to provide feedback on commercial, operational, and financial gaps in non- investment ready enterprises that could hinder them from making investments, thus informing targeted capacity building interventions.
• Enable LFIs to identify the capacity gaps they have in financing forestry and restorative value chains and the support they need to build internal capacity.

3. Opportunity Assessment: Provide the LFIs with an opportunity to develop a better understanding of forestry and restorative value chains in Kenya and available financing opportunities through learning and engagement with stakeholders.

Objectives – Day 2

The second Blended Finance Working Group (BFWG) expert meeting will focus on how to enhance the engagement of local finance institutions in supporting restoration/forestry/agroforestry activities. The meeting will build on the outcomes of the Kenya matchmaking event and continue the Blended Finance Dialogue process. The meeting aims to: 

1. Reflect on the restoration project pipeline identified through AFR100-supported business incubators and accelerators, with a focus on assessing scalability and readiness for blended finance at larger volumes.
2. Explore concrete pathways for engaging local financial institutions as long-term partners, including the design of de-risking mechanisms, technical assistance, and policy alignment.
3. Identify promising intermediary structures (e.g., commercial aggregators, cooperatives, holding companies, local funds) that can effectively channel finance to smallholders and restoration-linked
   SMEs.
4. Recommend practical steps to improve the quality and bankability of business proposals emerging from community-led and small-scale restoration, and to connect these with aligned financing instruments.
5. Contribute to the broader objectives of the AFR100 Support Programme by providing inputs to its blended finance work packages and ensuring alignment with resource mobilization strategies and enabling environment interventions.

The event will be held in English and is open to the public.  

Click here to find more information about the event and the agenda.

Each day can be followed online at:

Day 1 – Matchmaking event

Day 2 – Blended Finance event