Africa must move youth-led green innovations beyond ideas to viable businesses – Ahmed Bening Wiisichong

The Secretary General of the Pan African Youth Union, Ahmed Bening Wiisichong, has called for stronger financing, technical support, and policy interventions to help young African innovators turn climate solutions into sustainable businesses that drive economic growth and create jobs.

Speaking at the Africa Youth Conference at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Mr Wiisichong said scaling youth-led innovation required a deliberate shift from isolated initiatives to solutions that could be replicated, financed and sustained across communities and countries.

The conference brought together civil society organisations (CSOs) and young climate advocates from across Africa under the theme, “Scaling Youth-led Innovation for Africa’s Green Economy.”

Mr Wiisichong noted that young Africans were already developing promising solutions in renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, waste management, recycling, sustainable mobility and digital technologies.

However, he said many of these initiatives struggled to move from promising ideas to viable enterprises because of limited access to finance, technical expertise, markets, mentorship, and supportive policy environments.

“Scaling youth-led green innovation requires moving beyond isolated initiatives towards solutions that can be replicated, financed and sustained across communities and countries,” he said.

The Pan African Youth Union Secretary General stressed the need for stronger collaboration among youth innovators, governments, the private sector, financial institutions, universities and development partners to unlock the potential of young people in Africa’s green economy.

He said expanding access to green financing, strengthening entrepreneurship and technical skills, supporting research and technology transfer, and creating platforms for market access would be critical to helping young innovators grow their businesses.

According to him, young entrepreneurs must also be supported to access regional value chains and benefit from opportunities emerging from Africa’s transition towards sustainable development.

“This means expanding access to green financing, strengthening entrepreneurship and technical skills, supporting research and technology transfer and establishing platforms through which young innovators can access markets and regional value chains,” he stated.

He further called for policies that recognise youth-led enterprises as essential contributors to Africa’s green industrialisation and job creation.Mr Wiisichong cautioned that efforts to scale innovation should go beyond increasing the number of ideas being developed, insisting that greater attention must be paid to creating the conditions for successful innovations to grow and deliver measurable results.

“Scaling innovation should not simply be about increasing the number of ideas; it should be about creating the conditions that allow successful ideas to grow, reach more people and deliver measurable impact,” he said.

He also called for deliberate measures to ensure that rural youth, young women and young people in underserved communities benefit from opportunities in the emerging green economy.

He argued that Africa’s transition to sustainability must be inclusive, create decent jobs and promote social equity rather than deepen existing inequalities.