Acumen in Partnership with Freetown Innovation Lab Launch Green Enterprise Pilot in Kroobay

FREETOWN — Building on its mission to tackle urban waste and youth unemployment, Acumen, in partnership with the Freetown Innovation Lab, officially launched its grassroots green enterprise pilot in the Kroobay community.

Designed to drive gender-inclusive economic empowerment, the opening phase sees local participants taking part in the initiative, with 70% of the training slots strictly allocated to women.

Turning Waste into Opportunities

Highlighting the vision behind the initiative, Mohamed A. Kamara, Managing Director of the Freetown Innovation Lab, outlined the program’s dual focus on environmental stewardship and job creation.

“When we hear ‘green jobs,’ it simply means the environment—how we will be able to tap into the challenges and turn them into opportunities and income,” said Kamara. “At the end of the day, they create a job for themselves, and secondly, they take care of the environment.”

Kamara noted the destructive cycle of unmanaged plastic waste, from clogging community drainages to contaminating marine ecosystems. “Plastics go into the soil and affect the soil; they go into the sea and affect the fish we eat. So the sickness returns to us. But if we clean all the waste we generate and convert it into something we can use again, we create jobs and clean the environment. From this waste, a single initiative can provide jobs for over 17 people.”

A Timely Intervention for Kroobay

Community stakeholders warmly welcomed the project, emphasizing its potential to mitigate seasonal flooding and empower local residents.

Mohamed Thonka Karoma, Vice Chairman of Kroobay, praised the effort as a critical intervention for the area. “We don’t try all kinds of ways to fight flooding, so if this initiative comes to our community, we thank the partners plenty,” Karoma stated. “This is very, very timely, and we believe that if they continue like this, our community will be free from flooding.”

Beneficiaries Embrace Economic Self-Reliance

Addressing the severe shortage of traditional job opportunities for young graduates and women in the area, beneficiaries expressed strong optimism for the practical skills training.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Selina J. Sannoh appreciated the opportunity for self-reliance and financial growth. “If you no get skill, e no easy, because now, most of the women wey dey go college, space no dey for work at all,” Sannoh emphasized, encouraging her peers to seize the training. “This na opportunity for you to make money for yourself. We thank the organizers for considering young people in vulnerable communities.”

With participants active in Kroobay, the pilot sets the stage for a broader rollout aimed at fostering community-led climate resilience and sustainable green entrepreneurship across vulnerable settlements.