By Juliet Umeh

Africa’s growing youth unemployment crisis may find a major solution in the continent’s emerging green economy, as stakeholders push for stronger skills development and job creation across climate-related sectors.

This formed the focus of discussions as Jacob’s Ladder Africa announced plans to host the inaugural GreenWorks 4 Africa Forum, a continental platform aimed at accelerating green skills development and expanding employment opportunities.

The three-day forum, scheduled for August 11–13, 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, will convene policymakers, private sector leaders, development partners, academia and civil society organisations to design practical solutions for Africa’s green economy.

Speaking during a media briefing attended by journalists across the continent, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jacob’s Ladder Africa, Sellah Bogonko, said the initiative was designed to address the widening gap between the continent’s growing workforce and available employment opportunities.

According to her, Africa’s labour market remains largely informal, a situation that limits the creation of sustainable and scalable jobs.

“Our workforce is largely informal. We are not creating the most decent or sustainable jobs because many of these roles are not recognised within the formal regulatory system,” she said.

Bogonko explained that the lack of formal recognition makes it difficult for workers and enterprises to access capital and other institutional support required for expansion.

She warned that the employment challenge is becoming more urgent as millions of young Africans enter the labour market each year.

“The issue of youth unemployment has been spoken about by heads of state, academia and development partners, but what is not happening is the identification of scalable solutions relevant to the African economy,” she added.

Bogonko noted that the green economy presents a significant opportunity for the continent to address both unemployment and climate challenges simultaneously.

Projections by the International Labour Organization, ILO, show that Africa’s green economy could generate more than 60 million jobs by 2030, particularly in sectors such as energy, waste management and natural resource management.

“The potential for growth in Africa’s green economy is undisputed. However, these projections will only become reality if we build the infrastructure needed for green enterprises to thrive,” she said.

She added that the GreenWorks 4 Africa Forum aims to bring together key actors required to transform these opportunities into tangible outcomes.

Bogonko also noted that the initiative comes at a strategic time as Africa prepares to host the global climate conference, COP32, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa next year.

“This is an opportunity for Africa to showcase solutions that are already working across the continent rather than only discussing challenges,” she said.

Providing further insights, Head of Advocacy at Jacob’s Ladder Africa, Joan Kubai, explained that the forum is structured as an execution-focused platform aimed at moving conversations about green jobs beyond dialogue to concrete implementation.

“The idea is to design GreenWorks for Africa as an execution-focused platform that helps drive tangible progress towards Africa’s green and just transition,” Kubai said.

According to her, discussions at the forum will focus on six sectors shaping Africa’s green economy and offering strong potential for employment. These include renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture, e-mobility, green infrastructure, circular industries and sustainable mining.

Kubai added that the forum will adopt a case-study-driven approach that showcases successful projects across Africa, allowing participants to learn from real-life experiences, financing models and implementation strategies.

The event will also feature thematic working sessions and collaboration rooms designed to produce actionable outcomes.

Expected results include the development of an African Toolkit for Green Jobs Development, commitments from governments and investors to expand green job pipelines, and the launch of a continental coalition focused on green skills and employment opportunities.

Organisers also plan to introduce an African Green Jobs Index that will track workforce development progress across the continent.

The initiative builds on the outcomes of the Second Africa Climate Summit, where Jacob’s Ladder Africa hosted the first pavilion dedicated to green jobs and skills development.

Bogonko urged journalists to play a key role in amplifying initiatives that are already creating sustainable employment across Africa.

“Across the continent there are programmes that are working. Our goal is to showcase these models and scale them so that Africa’s young people can access sustainable opportunities,” she said.