Isaac Aboah

Isaac Kojo Yedonu Aboah is a Ghana-based storyteller, technologist, and climate-justice advocate committed to helping Africa imagine and engineer an equitable, low-carbon future. As Festival Director of the Green Film Festival Africa, he convenes and guides hundreds of creators, policymakers, and community leaders each year, using film to spark public dialogue and drive action on everything from climate justice to sustainable food systems. He also serves on the governing boards of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council and the Global Climate Story Network, amplifying African perspectives in global sustainability conversations. In his day role as Communications Manager at SilverLining, a leading research-and-policy organisation advancing near-term climate-risk-reduction technologies, Isaac translates complex atmospheric science into narratives that shape public opinion and policy. Isaac’s systems-innovation journey began at university, where he co-founded AgriLab, an urban-farming project that won the Hult Regional Prize in Kuala Lumpur for demonstrating how AI-optimised hydroponics can slash city food miles. He later launched Curve, an intelligent public-transport platform that uses real-time data to reduce congestion and emissions in West African cities, and founded Melo, a startup equipping informal distributors with data tools that deepen financial inclusion across six markets. Believing that Africa’s prosperity hinges on unlocking its talent pool, he founded the Young Africans Research Academy (YARA), a fellowship supporting original research that spans climate-model innovation, robotics in agriculture, and HIV syndemics. Through his acclaimed podcast Change Africa, Isaac has interviewed more than seventy of the continent’s leading minds, from nonprofit executives and top venture-capital partners to investigative journalists, cultural creators, and Olympic atheletes. The show has been featured by the BBC, Apple Podcasts’ “New & Noteworthy,” France 24, and Deadline Hollywood for “redefining Pan-African thought leadership.” Isaac’s advisory work with the Climate Justice–Just Transition Donor Collaborative has helped shift power, resources, and governance structures inside major institutions such as Open Society Foundations and ClimateWorks toward frontline communities advancing locally led climate solutions. Born in Bogoso to a family of petty traders, Isaac holds a BSc in Psychology and a Certificate in Global Challenges from Oxford University’s Transport Studies Unit. He has delivered keynotes at the UN Conferences of the Parties (COP 26, 27 & 28), the National Liberal Club (London), the Commonwealth, and numerous African climate and innovation fora. An avid youth mentor, Isaac volunteers with Junior Achievement Africa, where student companies he advised have twice captured the JA Africa Company of the Year title. Whether amplifying under-reported voices on his podcast, prototyping urban-farming systems, or curating films that inspire civic action, Isaac lives by one conviction: Africa’s brightest future will be co-authored by its own storytellers, scientists, and citizens, and shared with the world.

Africa’s prosperity can be truly architected only when we boldly reassess our journey and re-imagine our future through compelling storytelling, unlock every talent through transformative education, and propel the continent forward with relentless innovation and technology.

Adaptation, Climate Storytelling, Education, Food Systems, Innovation Research, Product Design, Technology