Unlocking Women and Youth Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Potential through an Enabling Environment: Lessons from Kenya

Women and youth in Kenya hold immense potential to drive clean energy entrepreneurship and there is a growing opportunity to unlock this potential by enhancing policy support, expanding access to financing, strengthening capacity gaps, simplifying regulatory environment processes, and improving market integration. Tapping into this underutilised talent pool can accelerate the adoption of renewable energy technologies crucial for mitigating climate change and reducing energy poverty. Financial constraints, lack of technical skills, and burdensome licensing processes are among the main causes, resulting in underutilization of human capital, missed economic opportunities, and slow progress toward sustainable energy solutions. Women’s business success translates into reinvestment in families and communities, compared to male entrepreneurs (Pazarbasioglu, 2017). To realize these transformative impact, policymakers and stakeholders should develop inclusive financing mechanisms, provide targeted capacity-building programs, streamline regulatory processes, and enhance market linkages, ensuring women and youth are supported to lead in clean energy innovation and entrepreneurship.