William Asiko

William Asiko is a senior vice president of The Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation headquartered in New York City. It was chartered by New York State legislation in 1913 with funding from Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, with the mission “to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” In its early years it funded global public health, medical education, and yellow fever vaccine research; in the mid-20th century it supported agricultural programs that came to be known as the “Green Revolution”; and in recent years it has focused its work on energy, health, food, and climate.Open the full entry and head of its Africa regional office. He joined the foundation in 2019 and leads its programs in Africa, including energy access and nutritious school meals. Earlier in his career he was a lawyer for the Kenyan government, and he then spent nearly 20 years at The Coca-Cola Company, where he was president of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation.

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Key facts

Early Life: Legal Education

In 1987, Asiko earned a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from the University of Nairobi; he is a non-practising advocate of the High Court of Kenya.⁠[1][2][2]

Early Years: Practice in the Kenyan Government and at a Law Firm

Asiko began his career in the Kenyan government: he spent five years as a state counsel in the Office of the Attorney General, where, in the government’s external resources department, he handled transactions between the government and international development finance institutions and monitored the government’s compliance with related obligations; he then spent two years as a partner at the Nairobi law firm Hamilton Harrison & Mathews.⁠[1][1]

Early Years: Joining The Coca-Cola Company

Asiko then joined The Coca-Cola Company, where over nearly 20 years he held positions in the United States, Kenya, Morocco, the United Kingdom and South Africa, including legal counsel for mergers and acquisitions in Africa and director of corporate affairs.⁠[1][2]

2005Earning an MBA from Emory University

In 2005, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in the United States.⁠[1]

2007Becoming President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation

In 2007, Asiko became president of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, managing the foundation’s programs in more than 30 African countries; he served for six years, until May 2013. During his tenure, the foundation expanded its programs and became the corporate foundation with the widest reach in Africa.⁠[1][2]

2010Appointed to Togo’s International Investment Advisory Council

In 2010, the president of the Togolese Republic appointed Asiko a member of Togo’s International Investment Advisory Council, in which capacity he advised the Togolese cabinet on investment and development matters.⁠[1]

Since May 2013Chief Executive Officer of ICF

After leaving The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, Asiko spent three and a half years in Tanzania as chief executive officer of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF), a pan-African development organization that worked with African governments to remove obstacles to private investment and carried out 75 projects in 21 countries before completing its mission in 2016. He also served as executive director of Grow Africa, a partnership launched by the World Economic Forum, the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to accelerate private-sector investment in African agriculture.⁠[1][1][1]

2019Joining the Rockefeller Foundation

In 2019, Asiko joined the Rockefeller Foundation as vice president of its Africa regional office, responsible for all of the foundation’s work on the African continent; he worked to use philanthropic capital to leverage private commercial investment and coordinate public resources, with the aim of ending energy poverty in Africa by 2030 and raising the incomes of millions of farmers, and during the COVID-19 pandemic he worked to advance equitable and efficient vaccine distribution in Africa. As of October 2026, he is senior vice president of the Africa regional office, leading energy access and nutritious school meals programs in several African countries.⁠[1][2][1][1][3]

September 2024Joining the Board of KCB Group

In September 2024, Asiko was appointed a director of the Kenyan financial group KCB Group.⁠[2][4][4]

December 18, 2025Commenting on the African Development Fund Replenishment

In December 2025, the African Development Fund completed an $11 billion replenishment, the largest in the fund’s history, with contributions from 23 African countries, 19 of them contributing for the first time; Asiko said that at a time when traditional development funding is shrinking, the replenishment was a necessary step toward the next generation of development work.⁠[5][5][5][5]

May 1, 2026Hosting AfricaXchange 2026

In May 2026, the Rockefeller Foundation held its second AfricaXchange in Nairobi to mark the 60th anniversary of its Africa regional office, established in Nairobi in 1966; more than 400 leaders from across sectors attended, and the foundation also announced its first cohort of 10 Africa Big Bets Fellows. In his opening remarks, Asiko said that African philanthropy, private capital and regional institutions are reshaping not only how development is financed but also how it is delivered.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

Other Board Positions

Asiko has served on the boards of the African Leadership Academy in South Africa and Rotarians For Family Health & Aids Prevention (RFHA) in Atlanta in the United States.⁠[1]

Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts

The Rockefeller Foundation: Official website: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[7]

KCB Group: Official website: https://kcbgroup.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]