Guy Ningabo, a Burundi-born student in Columbia Climate School’s M.S. in Climate Finance program, is pursuing a career in climate finance with the goal of helping address financing challenges facing African countries.
Ningabo was born and raised in Burundi before moving with his family to Rwanda in 2015, when he was 15. He later received a scholarship to attend Strathmore University in Kenya, where he studied actuarial science. While completing his bachelor’s degree, research into weather-related insurance premiums for smallholder farmers contributed to his growing interest in climate change.
After graduating, Ningabo worked with SIMA funds on projects that included renewable energy financing in West Africa. His experience showed him how poorer African countries could be viewed as too risky for loans because of limited data available for repayment assessments, strengthening his interest in climate finance.
Ningabo is one of three recipients of the Stanley Park Climate Finance Scholarship for Columbia’s M.S. in Climate Finance, offered in partnership with Columbia Business School. He indicated that receiving the scholarship made it possible for him to attend the program.
Looking ahead, Ningabo plans to work in impact finance, credit finance, and renewable energy. He also hopes to engage with credit rating agencies and others involved in renewable energy financing to help change views or financial models that he believes are holding African economies back.
Source: Columbia Climate School, “Climate Finance Student Guy Ningabo Believes Better Impact Finance Can Transform Renewable Energy in Africa,” August 7, 2026.
