Kenya is rightly proud of its reputation as one of Africa’s sustainability leaders. From renewable energy investments to carbon trading ambitions, the country has set out to show that green growth and social responsibility can move hand in hand.
The past year has however demonstrated that strong frameworks and good intentions are no longer enough. What’s at stake now is credibility.
Kenya’s environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) story risks losing its influence if the gap between corporate promises and public experience keeps widening.
The BBC’s 2023 investigation into sexual abuse on tea estates supplying multinationals forced buyers to suspend contracts and led to ownership changes in Kericho.
The scandal became an industry risk, not an isolated one, and global retailers demanded verifiable safeguards before resuming trade.
Similarly, Camellia PLC’s 2021 settlement over human-rights abuses at Kakuzi in Murang’a and its subsequent independent Human Rights Impact Assessment report set a precedent for how agricultural firms must demonstrate remediation and oversight. It signalled that reputational recovery now requires transparency, not quiet fixes.
Importantly, the Nairobi Securities Exchange has made ESG disclosure mandatory for listed firms, and the Capital Markets Authority now requires boards to take explicit responsibility for governance and social impact.
On paper, these are progressive steps. It is evident that investors, communities and regulators increasingly judge companies not by what they publish, but by what they invest in and the values they live by.
Land rights are another pressure point. The African Court’s rulings on the Ogiek community in the Mau Forest confirmed that exclusion from ancestral lands breached human rights and ordered reparations. The judgment is shaping how conservation, energy and carbon projects are assessed for consent and legitimacy.
As Kenya moves to operationalise its new Carbon Credit Trading Regulations (2024), scrutiny is intensifying. The rules require government approval and defined benefit-sharing for every project.
Several conservancies have already faced court challenges over registration and community consultation, showing that carbon trading is as much about social trust as atmospheric maths.
Even in the digital sphere, ESG is being tested. In May 2025 the High Court ruled that Worldcoin’s biometric data collection violated the Data Protection Act, ordering deletion under regulator supervision. Data governance is now squarely part of a company’s social licence to operate.
These are not isolated events. They reveal an evolving standard of accountability that is shaped by public evidence, not corporate narrative.
First, social safety is now a core business issue. The reputational crisis that engulfed the tea sector demonstrated how gender-based violence and weak grievance systems can erase years of brand equity in an instant.
Today, independent worker-voice audits and transparent remedy mechanisms are no longer optional—they are the minimum standard for companies seeking to protect both their reputation and long-term value.
Second, community consent is non-negotiable. Whether a business is developing wind farms, managing forests, or launching carbon projects, the critical measure is no longer simply whether communities benefit, but whether they had genuine agency in the decision-making process. Authentic engagement and shared ownership have become the true indicators of sustainability.
Third, carbon integrity will define credibility. As more companies enter carbon markets, transparency around who profits, who participates, and who monitors outcomes will determine trust.
Benefit-sharing frameworks that exist only on paper represent not just a moral failure but a growing litigation risk for businesses operating in this space.
For corporate Kenya, the ground is moving beneath the ESG agenda. The same issues that have exposed reputational and commercial risk can become evidence of integrity if handled with real accountability.
Strong SG practice is not a communications exercise. It is operational risk management. It protects export access, investor confidence and domestic legitimacy.
Companies that treat transparency as a leadership behaviour - not a compliance burden - will define the next phase of Kenya’s sustainable growth story.
Trust, earned through consistent credibility — where what is said and what is done are aligned, measurable and believed — is now Kenya’s most valuable ESG asset. The question for every board is whether they are protecting it through evidence or eroding it through silence.
Kim Polley is the UK & Africa CEO of Frontière Advisory and Mercy Randa is Frontière Advisory’s East Africa Advisor based in Nairobi.
