Youth-Led Green Technology Innovation: Unlocking Africa’s Triple Challenge

Background

Africa’s green technology sectors are generating jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people, demonstrating that climate action can also reduce youth unemployment. Yet policy, financing, and skills systems have not kept pace, and climate policies do not always incorporate youth employment outcomes. A handful of African countries have only partially integrated green technology into youth employment strategies. The evidence on the scale and quality of green jobs, barriers facing youth-led startups, and the role of Indigenous and local knowledge in innovation also remains limited.

To address this gap, APRI, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, undertook three country studies in Kenya’s e-mobility sector, Nigeria’s solar mini-grid sector, and Ghana’s climate-smart agriculture technology sector. Together, these studies provide the first systematic cross-country evidence base on green jobs for African youth. They examine policy coherence, financing, skills, gender dynamics, and Indigenous knowledge, and offer an analytical foundation for informed action by policymakers, innovators, and ecosystem enablers.

The Event

To mark the publication of the three reports, APRI and the Mastercard Foundation are convening a webinar to present and discuss the findings with policymakers, innovators and ecosystem enablers across Africa and beyond. The reports to be launched are:

The webinar will present the key findings from each country study, followed by a panel discussion. The aim is to open a cross-country dialogue on what it will take to build youth-inclusive green economies across Africa.