PwC has spent months trying to sell the carbon credits of collapsed Kenyan clean-cooking company Koko Networks. It has yet to close a deal, according to filings submitted to the UK government.
The administrator held talks with three potential buyers and five brokers over the six months to August 18, Business Daily reported. Offers have arrived. But they would not generate “a meaningful return to the estate,” PwC said in a September 17 progress report, according to tech-ish.
The gap is stark. Filings value Koko’s carbon inventory at £274,992, about KSh47.1 million, TechTrendsKE reported. A statement of affairs signed on March 13 recorded unsecured claims of £127.17 million, according to tech-ish. On those numbers, the credits cover roughly 0.2% of what creditors are owed.
Why Kenya Withheld Koko’s Carbon Authorisation
Koko Networks Limited entered administration on February 1, Daba Finance reported. Kenya had declined to issue the letter of authorisation Koko needed to sell credits into compliance markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Those markets include the CORSIA scheme for airlines.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui said approval would have let Koko consume Kenya’s entire share of global compliance markets, Business Daily reported. That would have left no room for other firms. Kenya also questioned the authenticity of the credits and the transparency of Koko’s business model.
The price gap explains the stakes. CORSIA credits average about $20 a tonne, roughly ten times voluntary market rates, The Standard reported. Koko’s request sat in an eight-month deadlock with environment ministry officials before the company collapsed.
A Verdict on the Credits Themselves
Koko issued almost 15 million credits before it collapsed, according to Redd Monitor’s analysis. The ratings agency BeZero gave them a B, which signals a low likelihood that each credit equals one tonne of CO₂ avoided. It also gave Koko a D for carbon accounting, its lowest grade.
Presidential economic adviser David Ndii called the dispute multidimensional, according to Ecofin Agency. He cited questions over the validity of cookstove credits, Kenya’s emissions-target framework, carbon market rules, Koko’s transparency and diplomatic pressure.
None of this proves buyers are pricing in doubt. Eligibility for particular markets, deal terms and transaction costs also shape what credits fetch, according to the filings. Still, the report gives neither the amounts offered nor the price PwC would accept. The public cannot yet tell what Koko’s credits are worth without Kenya’s authorisation.
Who Absorbs the Loss
The human cost arrived first. Koko served more than 1.5 million households through over 3,000 fuel points, and more than 700 employees lost their jobs, Daba Finance reported.
The money at risk is larger. Koko invested roughly $300 million in Kenya, according to Business Daily.
The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency issued a $179.6 million political-risk guarantee in March 2025, the first tied to carbon credits, Ecofin Agency reported. PwC did not comment on whether Koko is pursuing an insurance claim, Business Daily said. A claim could expose Kenya to a compensation bill, the paper noted.
Koko’s UK parent wrote off £35.5 million in loans to its Kenyan subsidiary and is also shutting down, Business Daily reported. PwC is monitoring a joint sale of intellectual property owned by several Koko companies, according to tech-ish.
Other Kenyan clean-energy companies have found capital without waiting on a regulator’s signature. Sun King, for example, closed a $156 million securitisation backed by commercial banks in July 2025, as TechMoonshot reported. Founders weighing alternatives to dilutive capital have also turned to revenue-based financing, which ties repayment to cash a business actually earns.
Koko’s collapse also lands in a market already squeezed by flat funding and record consolidation. Whether the Koko Networks carbon credits ever sell, and for how much, will show what an unauthorised cookstove credit is really worth. Watch PwC’s next progress report, the intellectual property sale and any move on the MIGA policy.
