About Sustainable Africa

We are the connective infrastructure for Africa's sustainability economy.

The will to build a sustainable future already exists at every level of the value chain. We build the systems that connect it — and make good practice visible, rewarded and built to last.

Our story Meet the team

The Sustainable Africa team together in the field

There is always a way.

We find it.

Who we are

At Sustainable Africa, we connect businesses, consumers, financial institutions and industry bodies — turning sustainability from an intention into a measurable, commercially valuable reality. Where each part of the chain is already moving in the right direction, we build the connective tissue that makes the whole system work.

Because the businesses defining Africa's economic future already know sustainability matters. What they need is the infrastructure to act on it — and that is what we are here to build.

What we believe

The principles behind how we build.

We build for the real world

Sustainability should be measurable and improvable without adding operational burden. We design around how organisations actually work — not how a framework wishes they did.

Technology is the backbone

We automate what can be automated, so human judgment is reserved for where it truly matters. Always designing for the person behind the system.

We look beyond the brief

We identify what organisations don't yet know they need — before it becomes a problem — and turn sustainability performance into credentials that are visible and verified.

There is always a way

African realities demand resourcefulness. When the path isn't obvious, we find one — building for mission and long-term sustainability in equal measure.

Our story

It began with a question: what does sustainability look like when it has to work here?

Sustainable Africa grew out of years of conversation with businesses, consumers, community organisations and development partners across Kenya. Those conversations revealed something consistent: the will existed at every level of the value chain — what was missing was the infrastructure to connect it.

That insight became our founding logic — the connective infrastructure for a sustainability ecosystem built for African realities. Today we operate across Kenya with a growing pan-African presence, built to pursue mission and long-term sustainability in equal measure.

Kenya

Rooted where we started, and where we work today

Pan-African

A growing presence across the continent

A facilitator leading a workshop conversation

The people

A team that looks beyond the brief.

Behind the infrastructure is a group of people who know Africa's sustainability landscape first-hand — and are building for it.

Meet the Team

Our History

We are a team dedicated to building a community that brings together consumers, businesses and other like-minded citizens and organisations to accelerate sustainable consumerism in Africa.

2023

2024

2025

2023 : Planting the Seeds

Sustainable Africa began with a simple but powerful question: how can everyday choices contribute to a more sustainable, fair, and circular economy in Africa? Throughout 2023, co-founders Luke Hayman and Isabelle Pelly, living in Kenya and eager to make more informed, sustainability driven decisions, began speaking with consumers, small businesses, sustainability practitioners, and community organisations to understand what sustainability means in a Kenyan context.

In April 2023, Isabelle teamed up with Susan Njoroge of Responsible Business Consulting to co-host Sustainable Kenya's first informal gathering. The event explored how consumers think about sustainability and what information they need to make better choices. The conversations that followed revealed a clear gap in accessible, localised sustainability guidance and planted the early foundations of what would soon become Sustainable Africa.

2024 : Building Community and Formalising the Vision

In 2024, Isabelle continued a wide ranging consultation process, engaging entrepreneurs, sector associations, sustainability experts, and development partners. These discussions helped shape the idea of a platform that brings businesses and consumers together around meaningful, context appropriate sustainability action.

Later that year, Sustainable Kenya formally registered as a non profit entity, giving the initiative a clearer identity and governance structure. The first business was signed onto the sustainability directory, demonstrating early proof of concept and validating demand for an approach grounded in local realities rather than imported frameworks.

We began to gain visibility, including an invitation to speak at the inaugural Sustainability Connect Summit in late 2024. These platforms helped articulate a growing ambition: making sustainability practical, accessible, and relevant for Africa's small businesses and emerging green economy.

2025 : Scaling with Technology and Expanding Beyond Kenya

At the start of 2025, co-founder Luke Hayman took on the lead role in shaping the next phase of Sustainable Africa's growth. Drawing on his background in innovation and digital systems, Luke introduced the development of an AI powered sustainability platform designed to help small businesses measure, improve, and communicate their sustainability performance with far greater ease and at scale.

The organisation also evolved structurally. In addition to the non profit, a complementary for profit arm was established to support technology development, commercial partnerships, and long term sustainability of the platform. This allowed Sustainable Africa to pursue blended revenue models and reduce dependency on traditional grants while maintaining a strong mission focus.

Sustainable Africa's thought leadership continued to grow, with invitations to speak at the annual ESG Awards in early 2025, the B Lab Africa Summit in October 2025, and other ecosystem events. The organisation was featured in the Kempton Post, on the South African Broadcasting Corporation Radio, and on The Sustainability Journey podcast, expanding its reach across the continent.

By late 2025, the organisation had begun exploring partnerships and pilot opportunities beyond Kenya, building the foundations for a truly pan African sustainability movement.