[Blog] Why Africa must put women and youth at the centre of clean energy transition

Judith Beatrice Auma Oduol, Keiso Matashane-Marite, Edna Akullq, Zuzana Schwidrowski

Africa’s clean energy transition will only be fast, just, and investable if women and young people are treated as producers, workers, innovators, and decision-makers, and not merely as end users of clean energy solutions.

A pivotal moment for policy choices

Across the continent, energy poverty remains a defining constraint on inclusive and sustainable development. Around 666 million people globally still lack access to electricity, of which 85 per cent live in Africa, excluding North Africa[1], and nearly 730 million lack access to clean cooking energy, with serious consequences for health, education and livelihoods[2]. Women and girls in rural and marginalised communities are the hardest hit, spending far more time than men collecting fuel and managing household energy, often at the expense of schooling, paid work and safety.

At the same time, Africa’s demographics and renewable resource base create a historic opportunity. The youth population is projected to exceed 800 million by mid‑century[3], and a scaled‑up clean energy transition could generate over 26 million additional jobs by 2050, including more than 8.1 million in renewables[4]. With the right policies, clean energy can become a driver of decent work, an enabler of a care‑economy, and a foundation for resilient, low-carbon growth.

Why gender- and youth-responsive policy matters

Evidence from ECA’s forthcoming report, Engendering Africa’s Clean Energy Transition, and the ARFSD‑12 side event on “Advancing Africa’s Clean Energy Transition: Policy Reforms for Expanded Access and Decent Jobs for Women and Youth” shows that the current trajectory is neither fully just nor inclusive. Women hold only about one‑fifth of jobs in African energy utilities and an even smaller share of technical roles, while young people remain underrepresented in formal energy decision‑making spaces.

These gaps are largely the result of policy and institutional choices. In several countries, laws still restrict women’s employment in industrial sectors, while unequal property and inheritance rights limit their access to collateral and finance. Gender gaps in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, and weak workplace policies, constrain women’s entry into technical and leadership roles. Women‑ and youth-led enterprises face additional hurdles in accessing credit, markets, and business development support across the clean energy value chain.

African solutions to build on

A gender‑ and youth‑responsive approach to energy policy is therefore not optional. Without women and youth at the centre, Africa risks missing Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 7 and weakening the legitimacy and effectiveness of the energy transition.

Discussions at ARFSD‑12 side-event highlighted that African countries are already demonstrating what works when gender perspectives are deliberately integrated into energy policy and programmes.

• Ghana’s 2019 Gender and Energy Policy links gender analysis, sex-disaggregated data, and gender-responsive budgeting to concrete programmes, such as the Rural LPG Promotion Programme, which engages women as agents and distributors of clean cooking solutions.

• Kenya has established a Gender Unit in the Ministry of Energy, adopted a gender policy in the energy sector and advanced programmes that bring women into off‑grid solar, last‑mile distribution and geothermal projects, including through employment quotas, anti‑harassment measures and support for women‑led enterprises.

• Zambia’s gender and energy initiatives, including the Zambia Gender and Energy Network, demonstrate how networks and rural electrification programmes can expand women’s participation in clean energy markets and governance.

• Regional financing initiatives such as the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa, GET.invest, and the Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund Africa are also beginning to apply gender-lens approaches, using blended finance and technical assistance to de-risk off-grid and clean energy enterprises that serve women and youth.

 

These experiences point to a core lesson: policy ambition must be paired with targeted implementation tools, such as gender and youth units, data systems, quotas, dedicated finance windows and structured partnerships, if it is to translate into jobs, enterprises and a agency for women and youth.

 

Three priority shifts for policymakers

Discussions at ARFSD‑12 side event highlighted three priority directions for policy and investment.

1. Hard‑wire gender and youth into energy governance and budgets

   Energy and climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions, should systematically integrate gender and age perspectives, with clear indicators and targets. Applying gender‑ - and youth-responsive budgeting in energy ministries and regulators can ensure that commitments translate into concrete programmes for access, skills, and enterprise support.

2. Invest in skills and entrepreneurship pathways for women and youth

   Expanding technical and vocational training, apprenticeships, and mentorships in renewables, off-grid systems, energy efficiency, and clean cooking is essential to closing the skills gap. At the same time, green entrepreneurship ecosystems, including incubators, innovation hubs and business development services, are needed to move women and youth into higher‑value segments of the clean energy economy.

3. Scale gender‑lens and youth‑responsive finance

   Development banks and commercial lenders should increase dedicated facilities and blended finance instruments tailored to women‑ - and youth-led energy enterprises, reduce collateral barriers, and provide technical assistance. Financing strategies must also respect human rights by ensuring that poor households are not left without affordable energy options as traditional fuels are phased out.

How ECA will take this agenda forward

For the Economic Commission for Africa this agenda is central to ongoing work on financial inclusion, women’s and youth entrepreneurship, gender‑ and youth‑responsive budgeting, and gender monitoring and measurement.

Building on the ARFSD‑12 outcomes, ECA will:

• integrate gender‑responsive energy considerations into its analytical work and policy advice on financial inclusion and entrepreneurship;

• support member States to apply gender‑ and youth‑responsive budgeting and to track participation and benefits using sex‑ and age‑disaggregated data; and

• engage with regional and national development banks, governments, civil society and youth and women’s networks to advance practical financing and skills programmes that place women and youth at the heart of Africa’s clean energy future.

By grounding these efforts in African evidence and partnerships, ECA aims to help ensure that Africa’s clean energy transition becomes a pathway to inclusive and sustainable growth, decent work, gender equality, youth empowerment and climate resilience for all.