Acumen Energy Summit 2025: Building on the Insights from Nairobi

With a challenge as complex and urgent as universal clean energy access, often the most important progress happens face to face. That’s why, on June 12, Acumen convened more than 140 leaders from across the energy access and distributed renewable energy ecosystem for the 2025 Acumen Energy Summit in Nairobi. Entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and partners joined for a full day of conversation, collaboration, and critical reflection.

The gathering reflected a shared mission: to make energy a catalyst for better livelihoods, more sustainable agriculture, and climate-resilient economies. Yet despite progress, investment and innovation still lag in the hardest-to-serve markets, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Summit marked a moment to take stock, challenge assumptions, and explore what it will take to accelerate impact. It also aligned with the next phase of Acumen’s strategy across its energy initiatives: PEII+, the Hardest-to-Reach initiative, and KawiSafi Ventures.

We thank our partners — IKEA Foundation, Autodesk Foundation, Distributed Power Fund, and UK Aid via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) Platform — for making this gathering possible through their support of Acumen’s Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative: Powering Livelihoods Using Solar (PEII+).

Most sessions were held under the Chatham House Rule to allow for openness and candor. What follows is a high-level summary of the insights and tensions that surfaced throughout the day, across presentations, workshops, and side conversations.

What we heard

Across the program, a number of clear and urgent themes emerged:

• The current capital stack isn’t working for everyone. Many participants highlighted a misalignment between the expectations of commercial capital and the operational realities of building and serving markets at the last mile. The result is pressure on companies to meet financial targets that don’t always reflect the lived experiences of their customers. Participants discussed what ‘Capital 2.0’ could look like, where financial institutions, types of capital and structures are designed with the entrepreneurs and their customers at the center.
• Affordability is a structural constraint. From currency volatility to debt mismatches, challenges around affordability came up for many businesses, across geographies and technologies–whether Solar-Home Systems, Productive Use of Energy, or e-mobility. Participants emphasized the need for smarter subsidy design, improved donor coordination, and more equitable approaches to risk-sharing.
• Energy access must deliver real value. Several voices called for a shift in how the sector defines and defends itself, not just as an industry, but as a catalyst for inclusive economic growth. The conversation moved beyond connection numbers toward the role of energy in enabling agency for communities and powering livelihoods and local services.
• Infrastructure alone isn’t enough. While the sector has long focused on delivery and distribution, many pointed to the need for greater attention on reliability, usage, and end-user experience. In both rural and urban settings, the gap between having access and realizing its full benefit remains significant across sub-Saharan Africa.
• Leadership and proximity matter. There was strong interest in seeing more African-led investment vehicles, expanded local manufacturing, and deeper inclusion of community insight in capital and decision-making processes. This was framed as essential for impact, not just representation.

What felt different

The 2025 Summit was designed to move away from the typical conference format. The day prioritized direct engagement, honest exchange, and collaborative problem-solving.

• Activities designed to surface and solve for tensions and recurring challenges across the energy ecosystem, resulting in a wide range of public and anonymous insights that spanned affordability, capital alignment, market dynamics, and sector coordination.
• The group was intentionally curated to foster candid discussion among members of Acumen’s energy community, across roles and regions.
• Workshops invited participants to co-create solutions, not just respond to presentations.
• Space was created for reflection, with participants sharing both ambition and frustration.

What stuck with us

Several moments and questions continued to resonate after the event. These paraphrased reflections captured the spirit of the day:

“Energy access is not just a commercial asset class. It’s a public good and a right.”

“The sector has evolved rapidly, but expectations have often outpaced what’s feasible for individual companies.”

“If universal energy access is the goal, the capital we have today isn’t fit for purpose. We need a new financing approach.”

“What happens after we reach every home? Are we prepared for that next phase?”

What’s next

The ideas and reflections shared during the day and workshops will also continue to influence our work and strategy across energy and climate action moving forward. We captured numerous solutions to some of the sector’s most pressing challenges: strengthening end-user subsidies, accelerating the de-risking of climate-tech, and financing the energy-agriculture nexus. Our team aims to build on this momentum, and we hope to collaborate and continue engaging the sector to refine these solutions, drive collective action, and catalyze greater impact.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Nairobi, not only for what you shared during the event, but for the work you continue to lead beyond it to end energy poverty.