African Development Bank convenes stakeholders to redesign YouthADAPT, aiming to scale youth-led climate solutions through stronger financing models, market access and sustained support for early-stage enterprises across Africa.
The African Development Bank Group has concluded a stakeholder consultation aimed at strengthening and scaling youth-led climate adaptation solutions across Africa under the next phase of its YouthADAPT programme.
Held from February 24 to 25, 2026, the workshop brought together business leaders, policymakers and development partners to review progress from the programme’s first three cycles and shape the design of its fourth phase.
Participants examined implementation lessons and highlighted the need to move beyond stand-alone grants. Discussions stressed stronger post-award support, improved access to markets and investors and the development of more sustainable financing models for early-stage climate enterprises.
YouthADAPT, a flagship initiative of the African Development Bank, supports youth-owned businesses delivering innovative adaptation solutions across the continent. It is funded through the Youth Entrepreneurship Multi-Donor Trust Fund and the Africa Climate Change Fund. Between 2021 and 2025, the programme backed 39 enterprises in 20 countries and helped generate around 11,000 direct and indirect jobs. Women-led businesses made up 63 percent of the portfolio, reflecting a strong focus on inclusive climate entrepreneurship.
Opening the event, Al-Hamndou Dorsouma, Manager for Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank Group, underscored the importance of youth-driven innovation in addressing Africa’s climate risks.
“Africa is the world’s youngest continent, yet it is also the most climate-vulnerable. Innovation is the bridge between these two realities,” he said. “Young Africans are already developing solutions in water, food systems, energy access, the circular economy and climate-smart services that can be scaled quickly for greater impact.”
Edith Ofwona Adera, YouthADAPT Coordinator, said the programme had reached a critical moment for reflection and redesign, calling for a stronger framework to help young innovators expand their adaptation efforts.
Mary Kashangiki, Manager for Early-Stage Finance at Financial Sector Deepening Africa, emphasised the importance of partnerships and shared learning, noting that insights from YouthADAPT could help strengthen broader climate innovation financing efforts across the continent.
Participants agreed that entrepreneurs should be placed at the centre of the programme’s fourth cycle, with support tailored to their financing, capacity-building and market access needs. They stressed that enterprise growth depends on a stronger support ecosystem, including earlier investor engagement, enhanced venture-building services, stronger local partnerships and clearer pathways from grant funding to sustainable follow-on finance.
Findings from a pre-workshop survey were also revisited, identifying key risks such as weak transitions to private finance after programme completion, limited alignment with local market realities and overreliance on single delivery partners.
A key recommendation was to introduce a clearer capital transition pathway. Proposed approaches included combining catalytic grants with milestone-linked funding, introducing returnable or revenue-based financing where feasible and strengthening investor advisory support to reduce risks for follow-on investment. The goal is to reduce long-term dependence on grants while helping enterprises become investment-ready without exposing them to unsuitable financing terms.
The workshop concluded with agreement on next steps, including consolidating findings into a design-ready framework, conducting targeted follow-up consultations and working with partners to develop a scalable, partnership-driven and results-focused delivery model for the programme’s fourth cycle.
