Kenya is prepared to dare anything to advance its sustainable development, including integrating the human capital of other countries. This is what President William Ruto has just done by appointing Patrick Verkooijen as Chancellor of the University of Nairobi. This environmental engineer is also President of the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA), based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The organisation he founded in 2018 has become a key player in international climate negotiations over the years.
The Kenyan government intends to use it both to raise the profile of its leading academic institution and to make its voice heard by the world’s highest authorities. Patrick Verkooijen’s background includes a spell at the World Bank, where he coordinated green policy and organised several summits focusing on the ecological transition.
This background should be enough to motivate the success of the nearly 100,000 students enrolled at the University of Nairobi in the fields of diplomacy, agricultural and environmental sciences. These are all subjects close to the heart of the new Chancellor, who is also responsible for the $1.6 billion Forestry Investment Programme. “This is the largest subsidy mechanism for indigenous peoples and local communities in the world”, says the institution, which has trained a number of African leaders since 1956. They include the famous Somali model Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid and Kenyan Chebet Lesan, an eco-friendly charcoal manufacturer who won a Commonwealth award in 2017.
In the name of climate resilience in Africa
Patrick Verkooijen’s appointment is a credit to the American academy at Harvard, where he studied and taught, but also to the major economic decision-makers, starting with the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group. In his testimonial consulted by AFRIK 21, Akinwumi Adesina speaks of a man who “has worked tirelessly to help our continent adapt to the growing impacts of climate change through his formidable leadership”.
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The 54-year-old engineer’s arrival at the chancellery of the University of Nairobi comes just a short time after the announcement of an alliance between the GCA, which he heads, and the investment company Invesco, based in Atlanta in the United States of America. The aim is to mobilise more private capital to finance climate projects in southern countries. However, there are questions as to whether Kenya, which plans to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 32%, will be a priority in this initiative led by the Dutchman Patrick Verkooijen.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi