Can green jobs address youth unemployment in Africa?

As the world adapts to climate change, so too does the job landscape. Different skills and roles are needed to tackle the fallout of a warming environment, while key personnel are also required to work toward mitigating any further effects of climate change.

Enter green jobs. According to the International Labour Organization, these are jobs that can be found in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction, as well as in new sectors such as renewable energy. Ultimately, they focus on preserving or restoring the environment.

Aware of their significance, at the 28th U.N. Climate Change Conference , or COP 28, in Dubai, there was a pavilion dedicated to green skills, with green jobs also a topic within the youth pavilion.

As the continent with the highest number of young people, Africa is primed to be a hub of green jobs. Such new opportunities could help to address the high rate of youth unemployment in the continent, said experts during the Green Jobs Roundtable: Youth Voices Paving the Way which took place in May.

“When it comes to translating opportunities to tangible jobs, there is still work to be done,” said Sellah Bogonko, co-founder and CEO of Jacob’s Ladder Africa, an organization that works to empower young people as the continent's future leaders.

The roundtable was hosted by the Mastercard Foundation to enable a discussion on the future of work for young Africans, specifically, how green jobs could help address youth unemployment and how such roles can help move from climate rhetoric to concrete climate action. Below are the takeaways.

1. All sectors need to be ‘greened’ which provides endless opportunities for young people

As all sectors, be it agriculture, sports, or financial services, undergo a shift in operations and functionality in order to protect the planet, more people are needed to think about how sustainable transitions can be made, the speakers said. “Climate is here to augment sectors,” said Nolo Mokoena, co-founder and chief innovation officer of Crtve Development, a Pan-African organization that connects young artists, activists, and policymakers to deliver campaigns that bridge the gap between communities and policies.

Research shows that greening of the economy could create 3.3 million jobs in Africa by 2030, including for minority groups. According to research by Fundación ONCE and the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, “by considering the needs and talents of persons with disabilities, these emerging green jobs can provide meaningful employment opportunities, promote diversity and inclusivity in the workforce, and foster a more equitable and sustainable green economy.”

The same can be said for informal workers. Organic farming, waste recycling, and community-managed forestry offer new opportunities while there are also gaps for young entrepreneurs to innovate and find solutions and new ways of working that can support a green transition.

But, to be ready to support the green economy, young people must be well-equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills,  the speakers said. According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2023, only 1 in 8 workers has a green skill despite increasingly being considered more desirable than a university degree.

“I actually encourage as many young people as possible to get a course, to get familiar, or to get whatever form of climate literacy you can because where we’re headed as a globe, you will need it,” Bogonko said. “Every sector is being affected and you will have an advantage if you have some form of green skills.”

According to Forecasting Green Jobs in Africa, 30% of the jobs likely to be generated in Africa will require a certification or vocational training.

Jacob’s Ladder, which aims to catalyze 10 million jobs by 2033, has developed and rolled out a green curriculum to fill the climate literacy gaps across educational institutions. Other resources include the C40 knowledge hub or the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Climate Change Virtual School for Youths in Africa.

2. Young people can find opportunities in emerging sectors

While most existing sectors will require a green makeover, the increasing impact and attention to climate change is paving the way for the emergence of new sectors, Bogonko said. These also provide opportunities for young people to tap into. E-mobility and renewable energy are two examples of sectors that have emerged in recent years and within such sectors there is an opportunity for young people to start new businesses, especially those located in Africa.

That’s because the continent itself has a vast amount of raw materials that are currently being exported to produce products related to the green transition such as solar panels and electric vehicles. "Why are we not building the solar panels here? Why aren't the batteries being manufactured here? ... Africa needs to start thinking about itself as a global producer,”  Bogonko said.

Additionally, Africa has sun 12 months of the year, said Chebet Lesan, founder and CEO of BrightGreen Renewable Energy. “Are we taking advantage of that, or are we waiting for people who have noticed that opportunity to take advantage of it for us and then cry foul in the next 20 years?”

If local young people could instead harness those materials and train how to produce such commodities locally that would pave the way for an array of new African, green businesses and with it employment opportunities for African youth. All speakers also agreed that there is an opportunity for entrepreneurship within the changing world that climate change has created.

A report by the Africa Policy Research Institute and Mastercard Foundation echoed this, identifying the technology industry as having massive potential for entrepreneurs to delve into, developing climate-smart solutions for greener economies, while research from the UN Environment Programme identified emerging opportunities in agribusiness, eco-tourism, and ethical clothes manufacturing.

But of course, governments and policymakers need to create an environment in which young people are supported to take such actions. UNEP’s report highlighted the importance of adopting robust regulatory frameworks and investing in research, innovation, and education.

3. Long-term thinking is key

With so many changes happening within existing industries and the arrival of new ones, young people in business need to think long term and ask “Will the skill you have be relevant in the next 10 years?” said Lesan, whose organization plans to create thousands of jobs by 2030.

For example, electric vehicles could eventually replace boda boda, or motorbike, drivers in Kenya and Tanzania, meaning that they will either need to adapt or find new jobs. Solar panels might replace coal use and recycling plants could outnumber waste sites.

The conversation,  Mokoena said, is moving from mitigation to adaptation and “how do we create vehicles and structures that can generate positive green growth on the continent? That’s what young people need to be focused on.” They should ask: “Are you aligning yourself to where the world is going?” and “how are you going to put food on your table 10 years from now?” Lesan said, adding that current business leaders should ask if there’s a way someone else could run their business in a greener way in a decade. “That’s really where we need to get young people thinking about climate.”

They do, however, need support in doing that. While the private sector is already tapping into youth, another way of offering support, Lesan said, is in funding young people’s access to spaces such as COP. This will ensure they are exposed to the language being used in these forums and can begin to think about solutions they could create.

4. There is a need for creatives within the climate space

When thinking about jobs of the future in a greener context, that of artists, storytellers, or musicians may not immediately come to mind. However, speakers stressed that there is a disconnect between people in Africa and the climate conversation and that the creative industry is critical in shifting mindsets and the narrative of what green jobs can look like in the African context.

In Africa, climate is a luxury to think about when putting food on the table is a priority, Lesan said. Yet it is still important to focus on solving problems of the future as well as those of today. To get people to change behaviors — perhaps recycling or reducing gas use — or to think about solving those problems, you need to speak to their hearts, she added.

“We’re living in a space where everyone can create content,” Bogonko said. “So how do we get to the point where climate change is demystified enough to be broken down to that young person who in another world would not care about climate change?” This is where the next generation of creatives comes in, she said, explaining that Jacob’s Ladder is looking at how to facilitate learning around climate change simultaneously with content creation. “Especially in the African continent, for us to be able to galvanize people, we definitely need to be able to leverage the creative economy. They’ve been left out for the most part and they’re an essential piece of this story.”

Crtve Development already works with young artists who represent communities and can break down a specific government policy or initiative into something that connects locally. The organization is currently running a campaign to encourage governments to create one million green jobs for African youth by 2030 through adaptation measures. “Creatives are far better at imagining the ideal future than us who have studied and can quote policies,” Mokoena said.

Ultimately, climate change is shaking up the job landscape, said the speakers, and Africa’s youth are needed to ensure the continent can adapt and thrive in the face of climate vulnerability and unpredictability.

Watch the Green Jobs Roundtable discussion here.