The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum together with development partners launches the Green Hydrogen Kenya website and the interactive Data Dashboard during the 4th National Green Hydrogen Symposium in Nairobi./HANDOUT
Kenya has reaffirmed its growing leadership in the global clean energy transition as the first day of the 4th Green Hydrogen Symposium 2026 concluded in Nairobi.
Organised jointly by the Government of Kenya and the Government of Germany, the two-day event is bringing together more than 400 participants from governments, development agencies, financial institutions, project developers, academia, civil society, and the private sector under the theme “Kenya’s Hydrogen Potential on the World Stage.”
The symposium arrives at a decisive moment, as countries across the globe accelerate efforts toward low-carbon economies, and the demand for clean industrial fuels intensifies. Kenya is well placed to meet that moment.
With more than 90 per cent of the country’s electricity already generated from renewable sources, including geothermal, wind, solar, and hydropower, it holds a natural competitive advantage in the production of green hydrogen at scale and at cost. Green hydrogen, produced by splitting water using renewable electricity, is gaining global recognition as a critical enabler for decarbonising heavy industry, manufacturing, transport, shipping, and fertilizer production.
For Kenya, it represents both an environmental imperative and a significant economic opportunity.
Speaking during the official opening ceremony, Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum underscored Kenya’s resolve to transform its renewable energy advantage into a platform for green industrialisation and competitive clean energy investment.
“Green hydrogen could become more than an energy transition tool for Africa, it could become a platform for green industrialisation, economic diversification, export growth, regional integration and technological advancement,” noted Wandayi.
The Cabinet Secretary further highlighted that Kenya’s Green Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap continues to guide the country’s trajectory, anchoring efforts to attract foreign direct investment, strengthen industrial competitiveness, create quality jobs, and accelerate sustainable economic transformation across key sectors.
The Principal Secretary, State Department for Energy, reinforced the call to move decisively from strategy to execution, emphasizing the need for a stable enabling environment that supports innovation, project development, and long-term investment certainty.
The German Ambassador to Kenya, Sebastian Groth, emphasized that German companies stand ready to invest in Kenya’s hydrogen economy, with several projects already underway. At the same time, Germany continues to support Kenya in strengthening the necessary regulatory frameworks and educational capacity needed to grow the sector — a win-win partnership for both countries.
“Germany remains committed to supporting Kenya through investment, technology transfer, skills development and policy support for a competitive green hydrogen economy,” said Groth.
As a highlight of the collaboration, more than 40 trainers have been equipped to train green hydrogen, and a curriculum developed to be infused for TVET institutions for skilling readiness for a green hydrogen economy. Across the first day, delegates engaged in high-level ministerial dialogues, expert panel discussions, technical sessions, and strategic networking engagements.
Conversations spanned innovative financing models for green hydrogen projects, policy and regulatory frameworks, infrastructure readiness, technology partnerships, cost-competitive power solutions, and commercial opportunities within the green hydrogen value chain. The symposium also marked the launch of the Kenya Green Hydrogen Knowledge Management Platform, a digital gateway to Kenya’s green hydrogen potential.
The platform brings together key policies, regulatory frameworks, sector studies, investment insights, and market opportunities aimed at supporting informed decision-making and accelerating private sector participation in the emerging hydrogen economy.
A key milestone of the symposium was the signing of a strategic partnership involving the Catholic Diocese of Nyeri, the MBR Consortium, Soventix as the Solar PV partner, and Enapter as the electrolyzer technology provider. The partnership will support the development of a green hydrogen project in Nyeri, further advancing Kenya’s ambitions to accelerate clean energy innovation, local industrial development, and investment in the emerging green hydrogen economy.
Since the inaugural Green Hydrogen Symposium in 2023, Kenya and its partners have built a substantive and growing platform for dialogue and action. Each edition has deepened the pipeline of projects, strengthened institutional relationships, and advanced Kenya’s visibility as a credible destination for green hydrogen investment.
The Green Hydrogen Symposia series is held annually under the Kenya-Germany bilateral cooperation framework. The 4th edition is organised by the Government of Kenya (Ministry of Energy and Petroleum) and the Government of Germany and implemented by GIZ GmbH (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit).
