By Fatima Saka
NAIROBI, Kenya — The GreenWorks 4 Africa, Africa Green Skills and Jobs Summit has called for stronger coordination among governments, businesses, skills institutions, investors and development partners to build the skills, employment and enterprise systems needed to drive Africa’s green economic transformation.
The summit, which concluded in Nairobi on Thursday, brought together senior government officials, development partners, private-sector leaders, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs and young innovators to examine practical pathways for expanding green skills, jobs and enterprises across the continent.
Hon. Dr. Eng. Festus K. Ng’eno, Principal Secretary, State Department for Environment and Climate Change, welcomed the forum’s practical approach, stressing the need to move beyond conferences and translate dialogue into implementation.
“We truly appreciate what you are doing as Jacob’s Ladder Africa. Governments across Africa are looking for models that work because our dignity and prosperity depend on it,” Ng’eno said.
He linked Kenya’s green economic transition to its broader national development ambitions as the country begins developing its Vision 2060, arguing that investments in green energy and economic systems should be viewed as investments in national development.
“Investing in green energy is investing in national development,” he said.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jacob’s Ladder Africa, Sellah Bogonko, said the strength of the GreenWorks 4 Africa platform was its ability to bring diverse stakeholders into a common problem-solving space and explore how successful approaches could be adapted and replicated across different African contexts.
“We must connect the dots that ensure that we are moving in the same direction, in a concerted manner and with the same effort,” Bogonko said.
A key recommendation from the thematic discussions was the integration of dual training and apprenticeships into green skills development, with greater involvement of employers and industry in preparing young people for emerging opportunities.
Participants also advocated expanded recognition of prior learning to ensure that young people and workers who acquired skills outside formal education are able to access opportunities in the growing green economy.
The summit further called for closer alignment between training programmes and labour-market demand, urging skills institutions to develop curricula that respond to the occupations and capabilities required by businesses and emerging green value chains.
Participants also emphasised investment in locally led solutions and local capacity, stressing that communities, enterprises and practitioners should be regarded as active contributors to the design and delivery of green economic solutions rather than merely recipients of interventions.
The discussions highlighted the need for government, businesses, investors, skills institutions and development partners to work as interconnected systems, rather than pursuing isolated programmes, to accelerate the implementation and scaling of green economic initiatives.
The summit also underscored Africa’s demographic advantage, calling for green economic planning to deliberately harness the continent’s growing youth population by creating pathways for young people to acquire skills, secure decent jobs, establish enterprises and benefit from the green transition.
The forum further advanced efforts to broaden the Alliance for Greening Skills and Opportunities Africa, providing a wider platform for sustained collaboration among governments, employers, investors, academia, skills institutions and other stakeholders on Africa’s green skills and employment agenda.
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GreenWorks 4 Africa is a continental forum convened by Jacob’s Ladder Africa in partnership with FSD-Africa, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), GIZ-Kenya and the Centre for Global Development (CGD). The forum draws on evidence and case studies from across Africa to identify what works, why it works, and how successful approaches can be replicated, adapted and scaled.
Jacob’s Ladder Africa is a Pan-African non-governmental organisation focused on integrating youth-led green enterprise growth into inclusive and climate-resilient economic transformation. It supports enterprises that create employment, deliver climate solutions and strengthen economic resilience, while working with governments, investors and local ecosystems to scale green economic solutions.
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