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

Youth-Led Green Technology Innovation: Unlocking Africa’s Triple Challenge Date: May 5, 2026 Time: 12 Noon GMT (14:00 CEST) Location: Online Organisers: APRI: Africa Policy Research Institute in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation 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: Kenya: Scaling Green Innovation for Youth Employment: Insights from Kenya's E-Mobility Sector Nigeria: Scaling Green Technologies and Youth Employment in African Tech Startups: The Nigerian Solar Mini-Grid Sector Ghana: Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies and Youth Employment in Ghana 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.