The Gambia Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) is set to address the economic root causes of irregular migration by supporting youth employment and entrepreneurship in The Gambia.
The four-year project started in January 2017 and is funded by the European Union (EU) Emergency Trust Fund for Stability.
The Gambia’s national government launched the Strategic Youth and Trade Development Roadmap (SYTDR), including the Sector Roadmaps for ICT, Tourism and Agribusiness.
The roadmaps provide the strategy implementation framework for YEP and a compass for creating jobs for young Gambians in these sectors.
YEP has worked to improve employability as well as increase employment and self-employment opportunities for youth focusing in particular on agribusiness, tourism, information and communication technologies (ICT), textile and fashion and construction.
695 young Gambians have already completed the skills training programmes. 56% of graduates have secured employment or started their own businesses supported by starter kits.
Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) has also supported more than 1700 young Gambian through entrepreneurship and business development support.
A new mini-loan scheme, complementing the existing mini-grant scheme, was created to support more established businesses in accessing finance.
More than 100 businesses have secured funding.
400 companies in the target sectors were supported through technical assistance, equipment and business linkages, including trade fairs and the Gambia’s Good Market (a monthly event featuring 30 local vendors and their locally produced goods).
Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) works with more than 30 implementing partners and continuously invests in institutions to strengthen their operational and technical capacity.
