The Economist: How to preserve Africa’s natural riches for everyone

Conservationists want to make the world pay to look after its rainforests and wildlife.

…. Across the continent, Kanyenje Kamau, Amanda and Nyaruri, Kenya’s founders, are developing projects for forest protection and income sharing. Their model draws funding from multiple sources, from private investors to nature credits. “If we can make land plots in Africa investible,” says Kamau, “we will protect more square metres and bring prosperity to more people.”

To address this, EarthAcre, a Kenyan startup, has developed a payment platform that allows participants to receive multiple streams of income. These will include new biodiversity credits, or “nature assets”. They are designed to one day be sold to investors and companies hoping to offset their impact on the environment by paying landowners in Africa to shield their own plots from degradation. Another layer of financing is expected from carbon credits, a market that William Ruto, Kenya’s president, has described as his country’s “next significant export”. The point is to maximise the income landowners can earn from protecting their plots and thereby discourage them from selling it, explains Britta Nyaruri, the group’s co-founder.

Read the full article at: https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/10/23/how-to-preserve-africas-natural-riches-for-everyone