The next billion-dollar ideas will be green. Nigeria’s youth can lead Africa’s sustainability movement.
Nigeria’s youth are living through one of the most paradoxical moments in our history. On one hand, they are the most educated, digitally connected, and globally aware generation we have ever produced. On the other hand, they face record unemployment, underemployment, climate shocks, rising food prices, and a shrinking formal job market. The frustration is real, and so is the urgency for a new economic pathway.
Yet, hidden in plain sight is an opportunity that connects our past to our future: the green economy. More specifically, a return, though modernised, scaled, and commercialised, to the occupations of our forebears.
For centuries, Nigeria’s economy was powered by land-based livelihoods: farming, forestry, fishing, herding, food processing, and nature-based trade. These were not “subsistence” activities in the way we often dismiss them today. They were organised economic systems that sustained families, communities, and regional trade long before oil, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint decks entered our national vocabulary.
Today, the global economy is quietly circling back to what our ancestors understood instinctively: nature is not a charity case; it is capital.
The green economy, which spans sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, eco-manufacturing, waste management, carbon markets, nature-based tourism, and forest restoration, is projected to generate trillions of dollars globally over the coming decades. Africa, with its youthful population and natural assets, is expected to be a major beneficiary. Nigeria, with over 70 percent of its population under 35, should be at the centre of this story.
But this will not happen by accident.
Across the country, young Nigerians are trapped between aspiration and opportunity. The white-collar jobs for which many are trained are scarce. The digital economy, while promising, cannot absorb millions at the scale required. Migration has become a survival strategy rather than a choice. Against this backdrop, agriculture and environmental work are still perceived as backward, rural, or inferior and deemed as something to escape from, not build with.
This mindset is costing us dearly.
Modern agriculture is no longer about hoes and cutlasses alone. It is about data-driven farming, climate-smart inputs, mechanisation, agro-processing, logistics, export markets, and carbon-smart land use. Forestry is no longer just about timber; it is about ecosystem services, carbon credits, biodiversity conservation, and climate finance. Waste is no longer waste; it is raw material for recycling, energy, and manufacturing.
These are billion-dollar value chains waiting for youthful energy, innovation, and scale.
There is a powerful case to be made that economic liberty for Nigerian youth will not come solely from chasing trends imported from Silicon Valley or London. It can come from reclaiming, upgrading, and reimagining the occupations of our forebears; however, this time with technology, finance, and global markets on our side.
Consider agroforestry, which combines farming with tree cultivation. Young entrepreneurs can grow food, restore degraded land, sequester carbon, and earn multiple income streams from the same hectare of land. Consider sustainable aquaculture, renewable energy mini-grids for rural communities, organic fertiliser production from waste, or eco-friendly housing materials made from agricultural residues. These are not theoretical ideas; they are already working in pockets across Nigeria and Africa.
What has been missing is scale, structure, and support.
Policy must intentionally position youth as drivers of the green transition, not passive beneficiaries. Access to land, patient capital, technical training, and market linkages are critical. Financial institutions must move beyond seeing agriculture and environmental projects as “high risk” and start recognising them as future-proof investments. The private sector must integrate young green entrepreneurs into their value chains, not just their CSR reports.
Education also has a role to play. We need to stop preparing young people exclusively for jobs that no longer exist at scale, and start equipping them for the green jobs of today and tomorrow. Sustainability, climate finance, regenerative agriculture, and environmental management should not be niche courses; they should be mainstream economic skills.
For the youth themselves, this moment demands a mindset shift. Dignity is not tied to an office chair or a job title. Wealth is not created only behind a laptop screen. There is honour, impact, and prosperity in working the land, restoring ecosystems, feeding populations, and building climate-resilient businesses, especially when done with excellence and innovation.
Our forebears understood the rhythms of the land and built livelihoods around them. We have the advantage of science, technology, and global capital. Combining the wisdom of our forebears with the advantage of digital evolution may be the most radical as well as the most realistic economic revolution available to Nigerian youth today.
The green economy is not a consolation prize. It is the next frontier of wealth creation. And if Nigeria’s youth choose to lead it, they will not only secure their own economic liberty but also reposition the nation as a sustainability leader on the African continent.
The future, quite literally, is green.
Sarah Esangbedo Ajose-Adeogun is the founder and managing partner at Teasoo Consulting Limited, a foremost ESG consulting firm. She is a former Community Content Manager at Shell Petroleum Development Company and served as the Special Adviser on Strategy, Policy, Projects, and Performance Management to the Government of Edo State. She is also the host of the #SarahSpeaks podcast on YouTube @WinningBigWithSarah, where she shares insights on leadership, strategy, and sustainable growth.
