Africa Climate Change Fund launches Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Project

The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) Secretariat has embarked on a project to support mechanisms for climate adaptation finance for youth and female entrepreneurs.
The programme, “YouthADAPT: Empowering Women and Youth for Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in Climate Adaptation and Resilience,” will create innovative, transformative climate-adaptable and profitable projects aligned with African countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions.
YouthADAPT is a forerunner program under the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), which is reaching into the underutilized potential of youths in Africa to drive resilience economic growth and green enterprise.
The approval of a $1 million grant funding for the project, by the ACCF’s development partners, was succeeded by a virtual launch.The event brought together stakeholders, including the project team, adaptation, gender, quality control, and communication experts, and climate change and green growth experts to share experiences.
ACCF Coordinator Rita Effah, and the Portfolio Officer, Lucy Debrion, gave a breakdown of 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.”Adera thanked the ACCF for collaborating on the projects. She also applauded the Fund for its role in facilitating the production of proposals. “That makes our work easier,” she stated
She also added that the scheme would support women-led local enterprises thereby promoting adaptation solutions to create additional jobs.
Since 2017, the ACCF Governing Committees have approved 26 projects estimated at $15.87 million. Following the launch of the YouthADAPT project, the AAAP secretariat will work hand in hand with the ACCF Secretariat on significant project milestones to ensure that the objective is fully accomplished.