2026 is here, and with it, the promise of an unwritten future. We closed out last year on a strong note and are grateful for the fresh beginning of a new year. For us at Jacob’s Ladder Africa (JLA), this is the year we accelerate the green economy with unmatched momentum and determination.
We are doubling down on our efforts with a sharpened focus of turning Africa’s energy into enterprises that create livelihoods, restore ecosystems, and command the continent’s economic future.
For too long, the world has gathered in boardrooms and forums to applaud Africa’s “potential” with little to show for what it actually takes to manifest it. The math of our current reality is unforgiving; with 10–12 million youth entering the labor force in Africa, but only 3 million new formal sector jobs are created. One-third of African youth aged 15–35 are unemployed, and another one-third are vulnerably employed.
The old story tells us to be patient; that development takes generations. We argue the opposite. We no longer have the luxury of time. We do not have the luxury of lethargy. And we certainly do not have the luxury of old mindsets that keep us sidelined in a US$7.9 trillion global green economy. We must no longer be content to be peripheral players and JLA is here to ensure Africa takes its rightful place at the center of global value chains, working tirelessly to enable green enterprise growth and solve the youth unemployment crisis.
While our calendar is filled with targeted initiatives to drive this mission forward, a defining milestone of our year will be the Inaugural Green Works for Africa Forum in August 2026, that will build on the wins of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in 2025 and be a roadmap to COP32 in 2027, both in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This will be a continental, three-day working forum, devoid of speeches and panels, where we will convene relevant players to pull up their sleeves and collaboratively get to work to co-design actionable solutions as well as share high-impact African successes. We intend to move beyond the exploration of “potential” and into the rigorous work of building a community of practice that delivers dignified work and thriving enterprises.
The narrative that Africa is perpetually the “continent of the future” forever on the cusp of arrival, has reached its expiration date. We are the continent of the now, and our success must now be measured not by our long-term potential, but by our immediate ability to open the doors of the economy to the millions of young people standing at its threshold today.
The “luxury of lethargy” is a ghost of the past. 2026 is the year of the builder.
Sellah Bogonko, HSC Co-Founder & CEO, Jacob’s Ladder Africa
