The African Development Bank (AfDB), through its Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), has awarded a landmark $1 million grant to South Africa’s National Business Initiative (NBI) to fast-track the country’s green economy skills development and ignite a new era of youth entrepreneurship.
The funding comes at a critical time as South Africa grapples with soaring youth unemployment 46.1% of young people aged 15 to 34 were jobless in the first quarter of 2025, according to Statistics South Africa. But amid the crisis, a new opportunity emerges: the transition to a low-carbon economy could unlock thousands of jobs for the next generation of African innovators.
At the heart of this effort is the Just Energy Transition Skilling for Employment Programme (JET SEP), a dynamic collaboration between NBI, the South African government, and Boston Consulting Group. The initiative aims to ensure that South Africans, particularly young people and underserved groups, are equipped with the skills to lead, launch and thrive in the green economy.
“This grant from the African Development Bank is a critical step toward turning vision into action,” said Shameela Soobramoney, CEO of the National Business Initiative. “We are building an inclusive, future-ready workforce and stimulating local economies in a way that leaves no one behind.”
The JET SEP initiative is not just a training program it’s a bold reimagining of economic empowerment, positioning entrepreneurship and enterprise development at the center of climate action. The program’s first phase will conduct feasibility studies for the design of skills development zones, which will anchor vocational training and fuel local business growth.
These zones are expected to become entrepreneurial hubs, providing tools and knowledge to young South Africans so they can create startups, manage SMEs and tap into the vast opportunities in renewable energy, green infrastructure and circular economy sectors.
Since 2007, the AfDB has invested $3.4 billion into South Africa’s energy sector, including renewable energy. This latest grant builds on that foundation by addressing a key missing link: skills and entrepreneurship readiness.
“By linking a strong private sector coalition the engine for job creation with government, academia, and NGOs, the FAPA grant will play a catalytic role in supporting informed policy decisions in skills development and labour market programmes,” said Kennedy Mbekeani, AfDB Director General for Southern Africa. “It will also strengthen efforts for the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the creation of jobs for youth in South Africa’s green economy.”
Launched in 2024 and endorsed by the Presidential JET Project Management Unit, JET SEP has attracted the backing of over 30 influential CEOs, civil society leaders and public officials, showing a rare alignment across sectors toward one goal: unlocking green entrepreneurship at scale.
As the world races toward a more sustainable future, South Africa is betting on its youth not just as workers, but as job creators, climate leaders and builders of a new economy. The AfDB’s $1 million grant is more than funding it’s a vote of confidence in African ingenuity and a blueprint for climate-smart entrepreneurship across the continent.
