Next week, FSD Africa will participate in Africa’s Green Economy Summit (AGES). Our presence reflects a clear strategic view: Africa’s green transition will only succeed if investments in climate-aligned sectors are matched with investments into building the workforce required to deliver them. Financial markets cannot deepen around green growth without trained and skilled workers capable of sustaining it.
Across the continent, momentum is building. Countries like Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Morocco have recognised the green jobs skills gap and have developed country strategies to this . The African Development Bank and African Union are also pushing for green skills as part of their commitment to driving green and inclusive growth across the continent.
Tackling Africa’s green skills gap will require cross-sector collaboration and coordination among stakeholders, including skilling and training partners; employers and industry associations; government regulators and policymakers; and funders and investors. All this effort will be happening against a backdrop of dwindling public finance and development funding.
In light of this, FSD Africa has begun exploring innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms that could enhance Africa’s green workforce development. The green jobs financing imperative is what underpins our participation at this year’s Africa Green Economy Summit, between 24 – 27 February in Cape Town, South Africa
Why financial markets matter for green skills
Our mandate is to strengthen financial markets so they can mobilise domestic capital, crowd in private investment, and support sustainable economic growth. Financial sector deepening depends not only on liquidity and regulation, but on productive enterprises and stable income generation. Green sectors such as renewable energy, electric mobility, and climate-smart agriculture are not only capital-intensive, they are also labour-dependent. The quality and availability of skills affect productivity, cost structures, and long-term viability.
Recent analysis in our 2024 Forecasting Green Jobs in Africa report estimates that more than three million direct green jobs could be created across key value chains by 2030. This presents a significant opportunity to address vast swathes of unemployment across Africa, particularly the youth. However, without deliberate investment in vocational training systems, certification pathways, and workforce planning, many roles will remain difficult to fill, and project pipelines will face constraints.
At AGES, we hope to engage partners on several critical questions:
- How can workforce planning be embedded into climate infrastructure financing from the outset?
- What financing mechanisms can support large-scale skills development linked to green sectors?
- How can domestic institutional capital, including pension funds and insurance assets, align with long-term human capital investment strategies?
- And where are the most pressing labour bottlenecks already emerging across markets?
FSD Africa will be aggregating these perspectives and partnerships into a Green Jobs Innovation Hub that aims to translate research insights into investable, demonstrable green workforce solutions. Our approach focuses on strengthening labour market data to inform capital allocation, convening stakeholders across finance and workforce ecosystems, and designing demonstration models that treat skills as an investable component of green growth rather than a standalone social expenditure. We believe that integrating human capital considerations into financial structuring will be key to improving project outcomes and strengthening market resilience.
As a Silver Sponsor at AGES, we see the Summit as more than a platform for dialogue — it’s an opportunity to shape the evolution of green finance. We are keen to connect with investors, development finance institutions, governments, asset managers, and workforce actors who recognise that green growth development is embedded into investment strategies — not treated as an afterthought. We are particularly interested in building partnerships that will enable us to pilot innovative financing approaches that can link capital deployment with measurable employment outcomes.
Africa’s green transition offers an opportunity to decarbonise economies while deepening financial markets and expanding domestic capital mobilisation. Realising that opportunity requires aligning capital with capability. We look forward to engaging in Cape Town on how to ensure that financial flows translate into productive, inclusive growth supported by the right skills at scale.
