Work wanted: Tackling the youth employment crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa
SNV and The MasterCard Foundation join forces to boost youth employment in rural Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
September 4, 2013 — SNV, in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, launched a $14.2 million project to provide out-of-school youth in Sub-Saharan Africa with vital employment skills through training in business development and financial literacy, as well as technical and life skills. The project, The Youth Learning Programme, is a collaboration dedicated to empowering young people in rural Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania to engage in the economy and lead change in their communities.
The anticipated impact of the Youth Learning Programme is ambitious, with a projected 20,500 disadvantaged young people set to gain training. The project aims for at least 80% of these trainees to gain employment opportunities in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors.
Globally, an estimated 75 million of 1.2 billion young people (ages 15-24) are looking for work. Despite modest economic growth in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Mozambique, youth unemployment accounts for 22% of the total unemployment figure. Many young people live in rural areas and rely on vulnerable employment and/or subsistence agriculture.
“We are excited to work with The MasterCard Foundation, building upon each organisation’s track record in Africa, to better equip young people for promising careers in sustainable agribusiness and the renewable energy sectors,” SNV Chief Executive Allert van den Ham said.
In the three countries, The MasterCard Foundation and SNV aim to improve the livelihoods of out-of-school youth by creating employment and self-employment opportunities in the high-growth sectors of agriculture and biogas. Existing demand-driven vocational skills programs across the three countries will be enhanced and improved to allow greater access to disadvantaged young people. The project will also identify training models that focus on growth sectors and blend education, skills development, entrepreneurship, employment linkages, and financial services.
“Young people in rural communities need more than training, they need tools, networks and confidence to adapt and thrive in a fast-changing economy,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “We partnered with SNV because their programming reflects the local economic realities young people face, while connecting them to new opportunities now emerging in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The project will facilitate internships, on-the-job-training opportunities, and placements in private and public enterprises in the renewable energy and agribusiness sectors. It will also promote the establishment of new youth-led enterprises by connecting youth to financial institutions and ensuring that young entrepreneurs benefit from continued business coaching and peer-to-peer learning.
Visit the SNV country websites for more information on SNV’s work in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Mozambique.
Learn more about SNV’s work in Agriculture here.
Learn more about our work in Renewable Energy here.
About SNV:
SNV currently works with almost 2,000 organisations worldwide, collaborating with a wide range of youth groups and specialised organisations. SNV operates at scale – in 2011, it reached 1.3 million farmers across East and Southern Africa and a further 2.3 million people globally with its green energy interventions alone. With an established local presence in 38 countries, SNV brings in-depth knowledge of local contexts and existing partnerships with training providers, financial institutions, the private sector, and young people across Tanzania, Rwanda, and Mozambique.
About The MasterCard Foundation:
The MasterCard Foundation is an independent , global organization based in Toronto, Canada with over $6 billion in assets. The Foundation’s vision is to create the opportunity for all to learn and prosper. They advance microfinance and youth learning to promote financial inclusion and prosperity in developing countries. The Foundation’s programmes are serving more than 5 million people in 50 developing countries. The Foundation’s funding and partnerships are concentrated in 23 countries in Africa and provide a combination of skills-building, education, employment, and access to financial services.
For further information, please contact:
Toni Tiemens, The MasterCard Foundation, +1-647-837-5787
Roy van der Drift, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, +254-20-387-3656
