Climate High-Level Champion for COP29, Nigar Apadarai, calls for urgent alignment between youth skills, SME growth and climate ambition.
Across Africa, small businesses are already delivering climate solutions. They power homes, grow food, repair machinery, and manage waste. These are the kinds of enterprises that keep economies running; mostly informal, often climate-smart by necessity, and critical to everyday life. But they remain largely invisible in the ecosystem of climate policies, investment flows, and skills development required to shape the green economy.
At the same time, millions of young people are being trained for jobs that don’t yet exist. Across the continent, green skills programmes are preparing graduates for formal careers in sectors like green hydrogen or utility-scale renewables. These industries are vital to long-term climate goals, but in many countries, they are not yet creating employment at scale. Meanwhile, the businesses already hiring in climate-relevant sectors lack the support to grow.
The old saying that it is better to teach people to fish than to give them a fish has new relevance: the skills we teach will determine whether young people can seize the opportunities of a changing economy. The good news is that new delivery models — powered by the internet — mean skills can be rolled out faster and more affordably.
This week, as governments, investors and campaigners gather in Addis Ababa for the Africa Climate Summit, that disconnect is in sharp focus. The transition cannot succeed unless it creates jobs and livelihoods.
Each year, up to 12 million young Africans enter the workforce, yet only 3 million formal jobs are created, according to the Africa Development Bank. At the same time, more than 72 million young people are not in education, employment or training, the ILO reports, while many others are stuck in training pathways that don’t match employer demand. The result is a green economy that looks viable on paper, but remains disconnected from the realities of Africa’s labour markets.
The potential is there. SMEs already generate up to 80% of employment in many African economies, according to the International Finance Corporation. And the ILO estimates that the green economy could create at least 3.3 million jobs across the continent by 2030. But that will only happen if market conditions improve and, crucially, if the systems that shape climate delivery, enterprise growth, and skills development are aligned.
Right now, they are not. Climate and economic planning remain siloed; policy frameworks often prioritie large-scale industries and multilateral investment; skills systems are designed without meaningful employer input; and access to finance remains limited, particularly for small businesses operating in informal or decentralised sectors.
Positively, in July, Liberia launched Africa’s first Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank, supported by the African Development Bank, to tackle youth unemployment. It aims to finance 30,000 youth-led businesses, create 120,000 jobs, and unlock $500m in lending – with nearly half expected in the green economy.
In South Africa, the Just Transition Pathways study maps what a net zero economy needs – including 6-12 gigawatts of new renewables each year. That evidence base helped shape the Just Energy Transition Skills for Employment programme, which links training with real market demand and supports SME participation in sectors like solar and green hydrogen. Incentives for small-scale solar, vital for clean energy access and SME job creation, are missing, but the groundwork for a more inclusive green economy is being laid.
Elsewhere, momentum is building but is uneven. In Kenya, where the informal sector drives over 80% of employment, most green skills programmes still target the formal economy. In Ghana and Nigeria, renewable energy SMEs face financing barriers even as demand grows. Modular, work-integrated training, which allows young people to earn while they learn, is gaining traction as a way to scale both skills and opportunities, but progress must accelerate.
That’s why we need to refocus on delivery. First, by recognising SMEs as central to climate action and job creation. That means integrating them into national climate planning and removing policy barriers.
Second, by tying training to enterprise demand. Modular, job-embedded skills programmes, delivered through technical colleges and community-based providers, can help bridge the gap between training and employment. But they must be designed with employers, not just by administrators.
Third, by broadening the focus of climate finance. While large-scale projects remain essential, decentralised solutions and SME-led delivery offer faster returns in terms of both impact and employment. Investments in platforms, capacity-building, and supportive infrastructure are urgently needed.
This is the approach we are taking through the Climate-Proofing SMEs campaign, launched under my mandate as Climate High-Level Champion for COP29. So far it has engaged more than 45 collaborators and reached nearly 90 million SMEs in more than 100 countries. The campaign focuses on three priorities: helping large businesses strengthen climate-resilient supply chains by supporting SMEs to adopt climate action; mobilising finance from development banks, commercial leaders, and investors for SMEs in emerging economies; and equipping SMEs with practical tools to help them embed climate action into their operations.
Africa’s young people have the talent to lead the green economy. But they cannot do it alone. It’s time to build systems that align skills, finance and policy with the enterprises creating jobs today.
The moment to act is now.
