The African Development Bank Group has concluded a stakeholder consultative workshop, bringing together business leaders, policymakers and development partners to advance youth-owned adaptation solutions supported by the Bank’s YouthADAPT programme in its new phase.
Held from 24-25 February 2026, the consultation reviewed delivery experience from YouthADAPT’s first three cycles, examined key lessons emerging from implementation, and explored design options for the programme’s fourth Cycle. Discussions highlighted the need to move beyond stand-alone grant funding, strengthen post-award support, improve market and investor linkages, and build a more sustainable financing model for early-stage climate enterprises.
YouthADAPT is a flagship initiative implemented by the African Development Bank to support youth-owned enterprises delivering innovative climate adaptation solutions across Africa, funded by the Bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF) and the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF). In its first three cycles (2021-2025), the programme supported 39 enterprises across 20 African countries and helped generate approximately 11,000 direct and indirect jobs. Women-owned businesses accounted for 63 percent of the portfolio, underscoring the programme’s contribution to inclusive climate entrepreneurship.
Opening the workshop, Al-Hamndou Dorsouma, Manager for Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank Group, underscored the strategic importance of youth-led innovation in strengthening climate resilience across Africa.
“Africa is the world’s youngest continent, yet it is also the most climate-vulnerable. Innovation is the bridge between these two realities,” Dorsouma said. “It is how young Africans are building solutions in water, food systems, energy access, the circular economy, and climate-smart services–solutions that are faster to deploy at scale with greater impact.”
Edith Ofwona Adera, YouthADAPT Coordinator at the African Development Bank Group, noted that the programme had reached an important point of reflection and evolution, stressing the need to use lessons learned to build a more resilient and lasting framework that empowers young African innovators to expand their climate adaptation efforts.
Emphasising on partnership and learning, Mary Kashangiki, Manager for Early-Stage Finance at Financial Sector Deepening Africa noted that the consultation process would help integrate lessons from YouthADAPT with broader efforts to strengthen climate innovation financing across the continent.
Participants agreed that the fourth cycle of YouthADAPT should place entrepreneurs at the centre of the programme design, ensuring that support responds directly to their financing, capacity-building and market-access needs. They also stressed that enterprise growth depends on stronger ecosystem around founders — including earlier investor engagement, enhanced venture-builder support, stronger local partnerships, and clearer pathways from catalytic grant funding to sustainable follow-on finance.
Facilitators also revisited findings from the pre-workshop survey, which identified key risks to programme effectiveness. These included weak transitions to private finance after programme completion, designs that insufficiently reflect local market realities, and overreliance on single delivery partners.
A recurring recommendation was the introduction of a clearer capital transition pathway within the programme. This could combine catalytic grants with milestone-linked tranches, returnable or revenue-based instruments where feasible, and investor advisory mechanisms to de-risk follow-on finance. The aim is to reduce long-term grant dependency while helping enterprises become bankable and investment-ready without exposing them to inappropriate financing terms.
The workshop concluded with agreement on next steps, including consolidating findings into a design-ready package, conducting targeted follow-up consultations, and working with implementation partners to shape a scalable, partnership-driven and outcomes-focused delivery model for the programme’s fourth cycle.
