The partnership will launch the YSDN–AMDA Youth Internship Programme, providing young professionals with practical industry experience across Africa’s decentralised renewable energy sector.
Lagos, Nigeria — August 2026: The Youth Sustainable Development Network (YSDN) and the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA) have entered into a partnership to launch the YSDN–AMDA Youth Internship Programme (YIP), a new initiative designed to strengthen the pipeline of young professionals entering Africa’s decentralised renewable energy sector.
The partnership will begin with a pilot programme that provides selected young professionals with structured workplace experience within AMDA, exposing them to critical areas of the minigrid and decentralised energy industry.
Through the programme, interns will have opportunities to contribute across areas including sector coordination and company support; policy, regulatory and regional coordination; research, data and standards; and access to capital.
Beyond workplace exposure, participating interns will receive structured mentorship and performance feedback, providing an opportunity to translate academic knowledge and interest in the energy transition into practical industry experience.
The initiative responds to the growing need to ensure that Africa’s energy transition is accompanied by deliberate investment in the skills, experience and professional pathways required for young Africans to participate meaningfully in the sector.
Commenting on the partnership, Damilola Hamid Balogun, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of YSDN, said:
“The energy transition presents one of the greatest opportunities to create a new generation of skilled African professionals and green jobs. At YSDN, we are intentional about ensuring that young professionals are not simply beneficiaries of this transition, but are equipped to build, lead and shape it. Our partnership with AMDA strengthens that commitment by creating practical pathways from talent and learning to real industry experience and opportunity.”
The programme builds on YSDN’s wider commitment to advancing youth participation, skills development and green employment within Africa’s energy transition. Through its growing portfolio of energy-focused partnerships and initiatives, YSDN is working to bridge the gap between youth engagement and tangible opportunities for young people to develop the skills, networks and experience required to participate in the continent’s clean energy economy.
Under the pilot arrangement, YSDN will lead the recruitment and screening of applicants, prepare selected interns for placement, maintain engagement with participants and coordinate programme monitoring and reporting alongside AMDA.
AMDA will provide internship placements within relevant areas of its operations, assign supervisors or mentors to participating interns and provide meaningful assignments and periodic performance feedback throughout the programme.
The pilot will also generate lessons and evidence to inform the potential future expansion of the initiative. Following its completion, YSDN and AMDA will jointly evaluate programme performance, participant experience and impact. Subject to the success of the pilot and the availability of additional funding, both organisations may explore opportunities to scale the programme and provide similar pathways to a larger number of young professionals across Africa.
The partnership reflects a shared conviction that developing Africa’s clean energy infrastructure must go hand-in-hand with developing the next generation of African professionals who will sustain, scale and lead the sector.