African Carbon Credit Projects Worth Knowing
These are the African projects and operators a buyer is most likely to encounter, grouped by type. Inclusion here is based on public registry listings and press coverage, not endorsement. See how we selected.
Last updated: November 2026. Figures and regulatory details reflect publicly reported information as of that date; verify current rules with the relevant registry or regulator before transacting.
Clean cooking — Kenya and East Africa
BURN Manufacturing (Kenya)
Kenya-based clean-cooking company named to TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies list in 2024. Its efficient stove projects generate carbon credits that co-fund lower stove prices for households. One of the largest cookstove credit originators in Africa.
UpEnergy (East and West Africa)
Issued Africa's first electric-cooking carbon credits under Gold Standard's metered and measured methodology in March 2025 — a signal of where cookstove measurement is heading.
co2balance (Kenya)
Runs household cookstove carbon projects in Kenya; one of its credits was famously traced by journalists from a Kenyan household to a UK retirement in a 2023 investigation — useful proof that the audit trail can be followed end to end.
Forests and land — REDD+ and soil
Wildlife Works — Kasigau Corridor (Kenya)
The project that earned the world's first VCS REDD+ credits in 2011, protecting forest between Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks. Still one of the most recognisable African REDD+ assets.
Northern Rangelands Trust — Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project
One of the largest soil-carbon and rangeland projects in the world. Note for buyers: Verra suspended and then reinstated it in June 2026 after an independent review. Ask any seller for the current registry status and the review outcome before contracting.
Boomitra (East Africa)
Soil-carbon developer working with smallholders; its East Africa Grassland Restoration Project was registered by Verra in August 2025. Uses satellite and AI measurement.
Vi Agroforestry (western Kenya)
Long-running agroforestry carbon work with smallholder farmer associations in the Lake Victoria basin, dating back decades.
Blue carbon — mangroves
Mikoko Pamoja (Gazi Bay, Kenya)
The pioneering community-run mangrove project on Kenya's south coast, certified under Plan Vivo. Small volumes, high community visibility — the template for coastal "blue carbon" projects across the tropics.
Buyers: see how to buy. Developers: see our ranking criteria.
Controversies & criticism
Two entries on this page carry documented controversies worth reading before you contract:
- Wildlife Works — Kasigau Corridor. In November 2023, SOMO and the Kenya Human Rights Commission published allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by senior project staff, reported by The Guardian on 7 November 2023. Verra reviewed the projects and, on 1 February 2024, concluded that Wildlife Works had taken the actions required to address the alleged harm; the projects remain active on the registry. The reporting organisations publicly criticised the review as inadequate.
- Northern Rangelands Trust — Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project. The project has faced sustained community criticism: Survival International's "Blood Carbon" campaign alleges it proceeded without adequate community consent, restricts pastoralist grazing, and relies on rangers accused of human-rights abuses. Survival International says it pressed Verra to suspend the project and disputes the independence of the review that preceded the June 2026 reinstatement.
These histories do not change the registry facts above, but they are why our buying process treats registry history as a diligence step.