ACCF Secretariat Launches the Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Project

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, October 31, 2022 – The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) Secretariat, launched the implementation of the project, “YouthADAPT: Empowering Women and Youth for Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in Climate Adaptation and Resilience” aimed at supporting mechanisms for climate finance adapted and accessible to women and women’s groups and creating jobs for the youth through the development of innovative, gender transformative climate resilient bankable projects aligned with African countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

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. It aims to promote sustainable job creation at scale by 2025 through youth entrepreneurship and innovation for action in climate adaptation. AAAP is a joint venture of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). 

The launch follows approval by the ACCF’s development partners for a grant amount of $1 million following the Third Call-for-Proposals (CFP3) managed by the ACCF Secretariat. 

During a virtual two-hour launch mission, the ACCF Coordinator, project’s task manager, quality control, adaptation, gender and communication experts, climate change and green growth officer, M&E specialist portfolio, and procurement officer shared key information on the project management and task manager role, AfDB procurement disbursement policy, and ACCF operational guidelines for Bank executed projects.

The ACCF Coordinator, Rita Effah, and the Portfolio Officer, Lucy Debrion explained the ACCF operational guidelines on Bank implemented projects. 

“This is one of the first projects to begin implementation from the CFP3 and we expect to report progress by the end of this year via our various communication platforms,” Effah added.

AAAP Coordinator at the Bank and Principal Climate Change Officer, Edith Ofwona Adera, who is the lead task manager for the project, said "African youth are leading the way, not in talk, but in concrete climate action; as agents of change, innovators, and entrepreneurs.”

“AAAP is leading the charge in taking these innovations to scale through our flagship YouthADAPT challenge. " The AAAP Coordinator added. 

Adera thanked the ACCF for collaborating on the projects and praised the ACCF for its role in facilitating the production of clear proposals, acknowledging “that makes our work easier.”

Under the project, women-led local enterprises that are promoting adaptation solutions will be supported and are expected to create additional adaptation jobs, Adera stressed. 

Following the launch, the AAAP Secretariat will engage regularly with the ACCF Secretariat on major project milestones to ensure that the purpose of the agreement is fully accomplished. 

Since 2017, the ACCF Governing Committees have approved 26 projects for a total amount of $15.87 million. 

The project will be implemented by the AAA which sits within the African Development Bank’s Climate Change & Green Growth Department. 

For more information on ACCF and AAAP, please visit http://accf.afdb.org and www.afdb.org/aaap