Green jobs for youth in Northern Mozambique

By preparing youth to engage in this emerging market, the Green Jobs for Youth in Northern Mozambique (GeraSol) project aims to unlock employment potential while contributing to expanding clean energy solutions in underserved communities. GeraSol is funded by the Embassy of Sweden and implemented by SNV in close partnership with the Instituto Industrial e Comercial de Nampula (IICN), the main training provider. The project is implemented in three of Mozambique’s northern provinces: Niassa, Nampula, and Cabo Delgado. These regions face high levels of youth unemployment but also hold significant potential for green energy expansion.

Mozambique faces a pressing dual challenge: high youth unemployment and limited access to clean, reliable energy, particularly in its northern provinces. Young people in these regions often struggle to find sustainable employment or income-generating opportunities, despite the country’s growing potential in the renewable energy sector. At the same time, the energy access gap in these areas remains a barrier to social and economic development.

SNV, through the GeraSol project, seeks to unlock youth employment potential while contributing to the expansion of clean energy solutions in underserved communities. The project will focus specifically on skills development by developing and delivering a comprehensive training package that combines life skills, technical instruction, and entrepreneurship support, ensuring young people are not only job-ready but also able to start and grow their own businesses. By working with the private sector, SNV will align training with market needs and facilitate job placements, internships, or partnerships for business development. Through this approach, the project will contribute to addressing systemic issues of youth unemployment, energy poverty, and economic exclusion, while promoting inclusive green growth and local capacity development in northern Mozambique.

This holistic and demand-driven approach is designed to be responsive to the needs of the private sector, ensuring that youth are ready to meet real market demands and contribute to the green energy transition.

The project seeks to achieve the following results by 2028:

• 3,000 youths are made aware of renewable energy job opportunities.

• 3,000 youths are trained on renewable energy business models (25% women, 5% displaced youth).

• 2,000 youths are matched with roles and jobs within the renewable energy sector.

• 1,000 youths receive start-up capital for renewable energy businesses.

• 1,000 youths receive on-the-job training and coaching.