Africa Climate Change Fund launches Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Project

The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) Secretariat has launched a scheme to support mechanisms for climate adaptation finance for women entrepreneurs and youth.

The scheme, “YouthADAPT: Empowering Women and Youth for Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in Climate Adaptation and Resilience,” will develop innovative, transformative climate-resilient bankable projects aligned with African countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions.

YouthADAPT is a flagship program under the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), which is unlocking the untapped potential of youth in Africa to drive resilience and green enterprise.

The virtual launch followed the approval of a $1 million grant funding by the ACCF’s development partners for the project. The event rallied together stakeholders, including the project team, quality control, adaptation, gender, and communication experts, and climate change and green growth experts to share experiences.

ACCF Coordinator Rita Effah, and the Portfolio Officer, Lucy Debrion, explained the Fund’s operational guidelines on Bank-implemented projects.  

AAAP Coordinator and Principal Climate Change Officer Edith Ofwona Adera said, "African youth are leading the way, not in talk, but in concrete climate action; as agents of change, innovators, and entrepreneurs.”

She said the scheme would support women-led local enterprises promoting adaptation solutions to create additional jobs.

Adera thanked the ACCF for collaborating on the projects. Adera also commended the Fund for its role in facilitating the production of proposals. “That makes our work easier,” she added.

Following the launch, the AAAP secretariat will regularly engage with the ACCF Secretariat on significant project milestones to ensure that the objective is fully accomplished.

Since 2017, the ACCF Governing Committees have approved 26 projects estimated at $15.87 million.

The AAAP will implement the project. For more information on ACCF and AAAP, please visit http://accf.afdb.org  and www.afdb.org/aaap