By Fatima Saka
NAIROBI, Kenya — Africa’s green transition could generate between 3.8 million and 7.9 million jobs by 2030, rising to between 65.9 million and 84.5 million by 2050, depending on technology adoption and climate-risk scenarios, new research Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) has projected.
The findings were presented at the inaugural GreenWorks 4 Africa Forum, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday in Nairobi, where policymakers, investors, businesses, development institutions, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs and young innovators gathered to explore practical pathways for creating green jobs across the continent.
The research noted that Africa’s green transition would differ significantly from infrastructure-led models seen in many high-income economies, with decentralised and service-led activities expected to account for a significant share of employment growth.
It identified clean cooking, solar home systems, waste recycling and electric two- and three-wheelers among the areas with strong potential to drive employment opportunities as African economies transition towards greener production and consumption.
However, the study also highlighted major workforce challenges, noting that Africa’s renewable-energy workforce currently represents only about two per cent of the global renewable-energy workforce, while just five per cent of African youth have completed formal vocational training.
The research further found that less than one per cent of climate finance is directed towards skills development, underscoring the need to better connect green investment with workforce development and labour-market demand.
The Forum, convened by Jacob’s Ladder Africa in partnership with the African Union Commission Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation and other development partners, is focused on examining successful African green-economy initiatives and determining how they can be adapted and scaled.
Speaking at the opening, Sellah Bogonko, Co-Founder and CEO of Jacob’s Ladder Africa, said the ambition was to build an Africa-wide coalition of governments, employers, investors, skills institutions, innovators, intermediaries and young people committed to creating green jobs at scale.
Bogonko said the initiative was designed as a platform for practical collaboration rather than another conventional conference, with discussions centred on what was already working and how such approaches could be expanded.
The Forum is examining opportunities across renewable energy and productive use of energy, climate-resilient agriculture and smart food systems, e-mobility and green infrastructure, and circularity and waste systems.
It is also considering the role of finance, technology, innovation, markets, social systems, policy, regulation and governance in determining whether green enterprises can access capital, workers can acquire relevant skills and emerging industries can thrive.
The urgency of the employment challenge is underscored by the African Development Bank’s estimate that between 10 million and 12 million young people enter Africa’s labour force annually, while only about three million formal jobs are created each year.
Among the practical resources presented at the Forum is the African Green Jobs Toolkit, which brings together lessons, practices, investment-ready models and financing approaches from across the continent.
The toolkit focuses on five key questions: where green jobs are located, who can access them, what skills are required, what financing is needed and how progress will be tracked.
The Forum is also presenting the African Green Jobs Taxonomical Standard for Africa, aligned with the African Continental Qualifications Framework, to promote greater consistency in how green jobs, occupations and skills are defined across countries and institutions.
Director of Development Impact at FSD Africa, Kevin Munjal, said Africa’s green transition would shape the jobs young people could access, the businesses they could build and the economies in which they would live.
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He stressed the need to ensure that systems being developed today give young Africans a meaningful stake in the continent’s green economic transformation.
The GreenWorks 4 Africa Forum continues in Nairobi, Kenya, with participants expected to focus on practical measures for scaling green enterprises, strengthening skills development and unlocking inclusive employment opportunities across Africa.
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