Empowering young Africans to lead Climate Resilient and Sustainable Futures
Our Partners
The Africa Climate Collaborative
The Africa Climate Collaborative seeks to promote climate-positive growth in Africa by strengthening higher education institutions to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to meaningfully contribute to a greener economy and lead initiatives that address both climate resilience and sustainability.
million young Africans
Locations
Years More
This initiative aligns with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy, which aims to enable 30 million young Africans to access dignified and fulfilling work by the year 2030. It will enhance teaching, learning, research, and data capabilities for Africa’s green economy, fostering evidence-based decision-making, innovation, and green job creation.
Supported by the Association of African Universities as its backbone and implemented through a consortium comprised of the University of Cape Town, University of Ghana, Makerere University, and the University of Cambridge, this pan-African multi-year initiative leverages the unique strengths and expertise of each partner to drive systemic change, enable green job opportunities, contribute to a climate-positive future and promote sustainable economic growth across the continent.
About The Africa Climate Collaborative.
The Africa Climate Collaborative is a transformative pan-African initiative dedicated to advancing climate resilience, sustainability, and green economic growth across Africa. Established through a $200 million investment, the Collaborative brings together leading African and global universities to equip young people, researchers, innovators, and policymakers with the knowledge, skills, and partnerships needed to address the climate crisis and build a sustainable future.
Climate change presents one of the most urgent challenges of our time, with Africa disproportionately affected by its impacts despite contributing the least to global emissions. At the same time, the continent possesses immense potential to lead the development of innovative, locally driven solutions that strengthen resilience, create jobs, and accelerate sustainable development.
The Collaborative was founded on the belief that universities are uniquely positioned to drive this transformation through education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and policy engagement. By harnessing the collective expertise and resources of its partner institutions, the Collaborative seeks to develop climate leaders, generate groundbreaking research, foster climate-smart enterprises, and influence policies that support inclusive and sustainable growth.
Our Vision
Young people, especially women, leading Africa to climate resilience and climate-positive growth.
Our Purpose
To create opportunities for dignified and fulfilling work for Africa’s youth through workforce development, entrepreneurship advancement and innovative, impactful research within and between community-engaged Universities.
Our Workstreams
Over eight years of its implementation, the Collaborative aims to achieve its objectives through four reinforcing workstreams:
Workstream 1 - Workforce Development
Enable young people to acquire qualifications (degrees, diplomas, certifications), leadership skills, and expertise to transition into green jobs, drive innovation, and create work opportunities contributing to climate resilience and sustainability.
Workstream 2 - Entrepreneurship
Support entrepreneurial ecosystems to generate, accelerate, and scale climate-smart innovations.
Facilitate commercialization to create work opportunities and improve climate change response capabilities.
Workstream 3 - Research & Innovation
Strengthen the capacity of regional centers of excellence at African institutions to develop and deliver interdisciplinary learning and teaching, invest in critical research capabilities, and incentivize innovation related to climate resilience and sustainability.
Workstream 4 - Networks, Policy, & Learning
Catalyze a dynamic ecosystem that builds Africa's thought leadership and global profile in climate to transform the policy agenda and incentivize strategies for job creation in the green economy.
Our Climate Collaborative Partners
Ghana
Mastercard Foundation
CANADA
Association of African Universities
AFRICA
University of Cambridge
UNITED KINGDOM
Makerere University
UGANDA
University of Cape Town
SOUTH AFRICA
Recent Articles & Activities
50 Masters’ students Awarded Africa Climate Collaborative Scholarships supported by Mastercard Foundation at Makerere University
What We Heard: Young Africans Are Not Waiting
A Defining Moment for African Climate Action
From Ambition to Systems Change: Rethinking Climate Leadership in Africa
UCT joins Africa Climate Collaborative to strengthen climate education, leadership, research and innovation
Supporting climate careers through Habitable Planet Workshops
Master’s Scholars of Africa Climate Collaborative at Makerere University Engage Lwengo and Rakai Communities to Inform Research Conceptualisation
Our Stewardship Team
Serving as the central executive decision-making body, the Stewardship Team provides strategic coherence, ensures accountability, and foster shared leadership among all partner institutions. To embody the principle of shared leadership, the Stewardship Team is composed of senior representatives from each partner university. Leadership will be exercised through a rotating Chair and Deputy Chair.
