Whistleblowers sound the alarm on American consultancy’s growing influence in shaping carbon markets and advancing energy transition
Just weeks before African leaders gathered in Nairobi for the continent’s first climate summit, environmental justice groups alerted Kenyan president William Ruto about the excessive influence of consultancy firm McKinsey on the summit’s agenda.
It was revealed that the American company had provided assistance to Ruto in organizing the summit during a meeting with him and US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman. Several sources informed Climate Home News that a few days later, McKinsey drafted the concept note that framed the summit’s structure and later prepared a paper to shape its outcome.
“For a few weeks, it was their way or the highway,” a source close to the summit’s organization told Climate Home.
At the time, the Kenyan government denied the civil society allegations, stating that McKinsey’s involvement in the summit was “very far from the truth”. In response, McKinsey called the claims “unfounded”.
However, the fallout publicly demonstrated the influence McKinsey holds over Africa’s climate agenda – a position it prefers to keep discreet.
Dripped files
Climate Home has acquired leaked files and spoken to numerous sources, all of whom have requested to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.
These documents reveal how McKinsey manipulates a network driving carbon markets in Africa and initiatives designed to help governments develop long-term energy plans.
This is facilitated by McKinsey’s well-established connections with Sustainable Energy For All (SEforAll), which is responsible for delivering on a 2030 sustainable development goal for universal access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy; and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), which aims to accelerate the energy transition.
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Climate Home’s investigation reveals that SEforAll staff expressed concerns over CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi’s “favoritism” of McKinsey in a whistleblower report in 2020.
That year, SEforAll engaged the company to facilitate a management retreat and develop the organization’s business plan. At the time, SEforAll’s senior management dismissed the accusation.
Three years later, documents demonstrate how McKinsey has turned initial pro-bono work into lucrative contracts.
A source close to SEforAll told Climate Home that McKinsey faced minimal competition and enjoyed “almost unlimited access to the highest levels of the UN and national governments”.
An SEforAll representative stated: “All SEforALL procedures are followed at all times in the selection and engagement of any advisory services,” adding that any suggestion to the contrary was “unfounded”.
“Come to take control of”
African government analysts argue that McKinsey’s dominance is problematic because it is promoting a top-down, non-Afro-centric approach to solving the continent’s climate and development challenges, which, if unquestioned, could limit its potential.
