Youth Energy Summit 2023 Summit Highlights:
Youth Energy Summit 2025
YES! is coming to Cape Town to deliver the largest and most impactful edition yet! This June will be the world’s largest gathering of youth in the energy sector – empowering the next generation of Africa’s energy leaders and bringing young voices to the forefront of the discussion. This year’s Youth Energy Summit features 7 streams of interactive content.
Here's What's Coming!
Note: updates are ongoing, and details on this webpage are subject to change.
Energy Careers & Future Opportunities
Explore the future of energy and what it means for you. These sessions will give you a look at the latest industry trends and help you understand the skills and opportunities that can shape your career in the sector. Learn how to prepare today for the jobs and innovations of tomorrow.
Bridging the Gap: From Classroom to Career
Gain practical skills and industry knowledge through interactive training sessions led by credible organizations. These courses will connect what you’ve learned in academia to real-world applications, helping you prepare for a successful career in the energy sector.
Recruiters Spotlight: Exploring Career Opportunities in Energy
Discover graduate recruitment and internship programs from leading companies in the energy sector. Learn about their roles in energy development and gain insights into the diverse career paths available to you.
Entrepreneurs Arena: Pitch, Learn, and Grow
Aspiring entrepreneurs can present their business ideas to industry experts for valuable feedback, mentorship, and potential funding opportunities. This is your chance to refine your vision and take your startup to the next level.
Ask the Experts Drop-in Clinic
Join small-group sessions with leading energy professionals from AEF. In these 20-minute discussions, gain career advice, industry insights, and a firsthand look into their day-to-day roles.
We connected 1,000 entrepreneurs, students, educators and early career professionals in Nairobi, with key stakeholders in the energy industry
With the support of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), we funded travel and accommodation for the attending youth who needed it most.
A $5,000 prize fund was awarded to develop the best sustainable energy solution in the YES! Youth Entrepreneurs Energy Showdown.
We honoured champions in youth and energy, with awards presented by His Excellency Dr William S. Ruto, President of Kenya.
Exciting, empowering and inspirational. These are just some of the words people have used to describe the Youth Energy Summit, which takes place alongside the Africa Energy Forum (aef) annually!
The Youth Energy Summit has been successfully launched in Brussels (2022), expanded in Nairobi (2023) and is will return in June in Cape Town. This summit has united hundreds of stakeholders in the energy industry with African students, young entrepreneurs and early career professionals.
The upcoming 2025 summit is anticipated to be the most extensive to date, with YES! aiming to contribute significantly to addressing socio-economic issues in Africa.
For Full Details, Check Out the 2023 Post-Show Report
The YES! Partner Universe:
Pele Energy Group
Scatec
Eskom
University of the Witwatersrand
University of Cape Town
Global Energy Alliance (GEAAP)
A.P. Moller Capital
AECF
Ampersand
Ariya Finergy
Berkeley
The Challenges Group (Challenges)
Clean Cooking Alliance
Energy Commission Ghana
Green Energy Mission
IEEE
IFC
Kenyatta University
Ofgen
SDG7 – Youth Constituency
Strathmore University
STEM DRC
Sosian Energy
Sustainable Energy For All
The Energy Intelligence
Y-Gen
The Challenge
The challenge is not a competition, the challenge is not who will succeed first – the challenge is to electrify a continent & create the conditions for economic empowerment.
Africa is the youngest and fastest-growing continent in the world. According to the IMF, population growth on the continent means that, by 2035, there will be more young Africans entering the workforce each year than in the rest of the world combined. Properly harnessed, this young growing working-age population can drive Africa’s economic transformation.
However, this opportunity could also pass Africa by. Currently the majority of youth do not have secure work or economic futures. Of the 420 million youth aged between 15 and 35 in Africa today, the majority are unemployed, have insecure jobs or are in casual employment. The consequence of this translates into a failure to capitalise on one of the continent’s greatest assets for growth – its large growing population of talented young people.
On a continent where over 50% of Africans do not have access to electricity, not only is there a huge opportunity to develop energy projects for employment, but also to harness that energy for economic development.