Africa is probably the continent that is most defenseless against climate change. Increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing and more extreme weather patterns all threaten human health and safety, food and water security, and socio-economic development. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of these regions that is highly vulnerable to the losses and harms associated with climate change. The grim reality is that this region has contributed the least to greenhouse gases (GHGs) but is severely burdened by the effects caused by the rapidly changing climate. By 2030, if inclusive, climate-informed development is not implemented, 42 million people could be pushed below the poverty line.
World Bank Group
Youth impacted
One out of five young people (ages 15 - 24) in Africa lives in an area with high under- or un-employment. These youth do not have the means to secure meaningful work, due to their lack of experience, education, and financial means. This impacts on all aspects of life, including economic growth, development and sociopolitical stability. In South Africa alone, 80% of young people surveyed in a U-Report poll believe that they have been directly affected by a climate or environmental-related event, as reported by UNICEF.
YoMa – The Youth Marketplace built on blockchain
The Youth Agency Marketplace is a digital marketplace for youth across the world to build and transform their futures by actively engaging in social and envirnmental impact through learning and earning opportunities. Yoma is building the base infrastructure for sustainable growth, impact and thriving communities. Through the platform, youth are connected to skills development and employment opportunities, entrepreneurship support and funding, individualised growth pathways, and the tools for creating local solutions to local problems. Yoma will change lives by empowering young people to strengthen social connections with their communities, connections to nature and connection to the the world around them.
Self-Sovereign Identity is the core of this initiative, so youth are 100% in control of their own data and decide what information they want to share. Youth record their growth in a digital CV like no other, using a digital identity credential wallet, with verifiable credentials and claims, using Cosmos blockchain technology.
$ZLTO is a community currency token youth receive for participating in the platform, that can be redeemed and spent within the Yoma marketplace on an increasing range of goods and services, such as mobile data and airtime.
Today Yoma is active in 3 countries,with over 12,500 active registrations and 20 partners, including UNICEF. They have launched challenges, such as #ReimagineYourFuture that provides displaced young people with ways of visualising their dreams for the future and how to achieve them. Better Together Africa is progressing skills development, entrepreneurial thinking and professional experience for young people in Africa, by creating “alternative learning to earning opportunities.”
Yoma aims to become largely self-financed within three to five years through the token economy.
Impact. Thrive. Grow.
The Green Yoma pathway focuses on Climate Change and opportunities for youth to participate in and grow the Green Economy, with direct relevance to the Global Goals for sustainable social, economic and environmental development.
Built on the ixo Internet of Impact blockchain, Green Yoma will enable youth to connect with impact projects, make verifiable claims about their impacts, receive payments for their work, with incentives for achieving results, create DAOs, and raise capital for green entrepreneurial ventures. Initial projects will incentivise youth to support or maintain reforestation efforts, protect wetlands for carbon storage, participate in river clean ups, collect water samples, and so much more. From this base, there is enormous opporunity to grow a youth movement that could transform supply chains and change the direction of the economic growth across the developing world.
UNICEF is leading the establishment of a tokenised sustainable –evergreen– investment fund that will finance the growth of Green Yoma. Look out for future news about the launch of this fund.
Youth in Africa will leap-frog to the new (tokenised impact) economy in ways that are going to show developed nations how to reimagine their economies and industries.
