Africa’s youth and the great green leap with Bilha Ndirangu

In this episode of Voices of Africa we speak with Bilha Ndirangu, founder of Jacob’s Ladder, about why Africa is uniquely positioned to leapfrog traditional development trajectories and lead the new green development state, a visionary approach where the continent’s development objectives are achieved by integrating economic growth with climate action and social inclusion from the outset. Bilha argues that Africa’s challenges – massive youth unemployment and the global climate crisis – must be solved together.
There’s an interesting paradox: Yes, Africa doesn’t emit much, but if you look at who’s best able to solve the climate problem, we are. We have the renewable energy, the land for carbon removal, and the world’s youngest labour force. We can use the same platforms to solve both youth unemployment and the world’s decarbonisation challenges.
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In this episode
00:00 Welcome to Voices of Africa
02:24 Founding Jacob’s Ladder Africa
05:51 Green economy industries and opportunities
12:11 Policy and innovation challenges
17:37 Kenya’s green energy paradox
24:53 Equipping youth for the green economy
33:04 Achieving ambitious job creation goals
41:19 Looking forward
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