Youth Innovation and Climate Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Turning Environmental Challenges into Green Business Opportunities

Oluchi Ulunma Nwosu

doi:10.56201/wjimt.v9.no9.2025.pg118.127

📄 Download Paper

Youth Innovation and Climate Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Turning Environmental Challenges into Green Business Opportunities

Oluchi Ulunma Nwosu

Abstract

The country grapples with the dual crises of environmental degradation and high youth unemployment. Promoting climate entrepreneurship, which harnesses innovation to mitigate, adapt to, and capitalize on the impacts of climate change, presents a strategic means of addressing these problems concurrently. This paper synthesizes existing literature and empirical evidence to examine how Nigerian youth innovate around climate challenges, identifies enabling conditions and constraints, and offers policy and practice recommendations for scaling youth-led green ventures. Using a mixed-methods orientation (triangulating recent empirical studies, program evaluations, policy documents, and case examples), the article provides a conceptual framework linking motivation, capability, and context to green enterprise outcomes. Key enabling factors are: targeted entrepreneurship and technical training, access to early-stage green finance, incubator and mentorship networks, and policy coherence that connects national climate strategies to local youth support. Major constraints are: limited access to affordable finance, weak infrastructure, low policy awareness and enforcement, and gendered and regional inequities. The article contributes to scholarship by comparing regional and sectoral evidence, situating youth climate entrepreneurship within theory (Theory of Planned Behavior; sustainable entrepreneurship frameworks), and presenting programmatic policy priorities for the Global South.

Keywords

youth innovation · climate entrepreneurship · green business · Nigeria · sustainable

References

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. Akinsanola, A. A., & Zhou, W. (2020). Projections of West African summer monsoon rainfall extremes from two CORDEX models. Climatic Dynamics, 54(1), 1–16. Anabaraonye, B., Okon, E. E., Ewa, B. O., Adeniyi, T. F., & Nwobu, E. A. (2022). Green entrepreneurship education for sustainable development in Nigeria. JOJ Wildlife and Biodiversity. (Programmatic/education research — available open access.) Akinbami, C. A. O., Olawoye, J. E., & Adesina, F. A. (2019). Exploring potential climate-related entrepreneurship opportunities and challenges for rural Nigerian women. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 9, 19. Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Sage Publications. Gast, J., Gundolf, K., & Cesinger, B. (2017). Doing business in a green way: A systematic review of the ecological sustainability entrepreneurship literature and future research directions. Journal of Business Research, 85, 1–15. Han, S. Y. (2025). Assessing the impact of climate change on entrepreneurship. Palgrave Communications / Nature Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (2025). Hirschmann, M.,Fisch, C.& Farny,S.(2025). An attention-based perspective on how climate impact influences entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics. Hockerts, K., & Wüstenhagen, R. (2010). Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids: Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(5), 481–492. Ikuemonisan, E. S. (2024). Challenges and strategies in Nigerian agribusiness entrepreneurship for sustainable development. CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, 5, 115. Lee, S. Y. (2018). Climate-entrepreneurship in response to climate change. Global Environmental Change (The Lancet of environment journals). (Review article — publisher: Elsevier) Mohan, P. (2024). Climate finance spillovers and entrepreneurship in developing countries. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. (Wiley; empirical multicountry analysis) National Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Nigeria Labour Force Survey/Youth Employment Reports. Federal Republic of Nigeria. [Dataset/report] Ofosu-Appiah, S., Boahen, P. A. N., & Agbenyegah, A. T. (2025). Socio-ecological barriers to youth entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 14, 32. Okegbe, O. (2025). Harnessing digital entrepreneurship for youth empowerment: Advancing sustainable economic growth in Southeast Nigeria. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(6), 2195–2207. Okonkwo, E., & Eze, T. (2021). Renewable energy adoption and entrepreneurship in Nigeria: A policy review. Energy Policy (journal article; policy analysis). Ogunmodede, T., et al. (2020). Evaluation of N-Power Agro Empowerment: Youth participation and impacts. Sustainability (MDPI). (Program evaluation) Reuters. (2025, March 10). Nigeria strikes $200 million deal to power rural areas with renewable mini-grids. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-strikes-200-million-deal-power- rural-areas-with-renewable-mini-grids-2025-03-10/ Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2017). Advancing research on social entrepreneurship: A review of North and Latin American cases and a research agenda. Journal of Business Ethics. (Foundational social entrepreneurship literature with overlap to sustainability) Transforming waste management awareness into action: Etim, E. (2024). Waste Management & Research. (study on municipal solid waste awareness in Nigeria). Uzonwanne, F. C. (2022). Governance, policy and green entrepreneurship in Nigeria: A critical review. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning.

Youth Innovation and Climate Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Turning Environmental Challenges into Green Business Opportunities

Abstract

Keywords

References

More Articles from WORLD JOURNAL OF INNOVATION AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY