Mr. William Asiko

William has over three decades of work experience across the public, private and non-profit sectors at a leadership level. His exposure includes stints in the Government of Kenya, The Coca-Cola Company, and the African Union. He currently serves as the Vice President Africa for the Rockefeller Foundation. In this role, William oversees all the Foundation’s operations and programs in Africa including the Foundation’s work in ending energy poverty, health and food, which are instrumental in bettering the lives of communities across Africa.
His prior experiences in each sector gives him a unique ability to navigate different cultures, align incentives and draw on the particular strengths of a wide range of actors to solve large-scale development challenges. Today William is working to deploy philanthropic capital to attract private sector commercial investment as well as align public sector resources to help end energy poverty in Africa by 2030 and lift the incomes of millions of farmers across the continent. He is also working to use the Rockefeller Foundation’s convening power to bring together Governments, development partners and the private sector to ensure equitable and efficient COVID-19 vaccine delivery in Africa at both the continental and national levels.
William is an avid advocate for efficient and sustainable economic development in Africa. He firmly believes that Africa will only truly transform when its growth story stops being Africa Rising and starts to be Africans Rising. He believes that development is multifaceted and must take a multi-sectoral approach, as well as have a strong emphasis on women and youth for it to be sustainable and impactful.