Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa Toolkit

Business skills training programmes for youth train young people in the knowledge and skills necessary to start, manage, and grow their own businesses.

✅Impact

Business skill training programmes alone had a small impact on youth employment, skills and earnings.

But when combined with other interventions they yield significantly positive results.

The impact of the intervention was substantially greater for women compared to men or mixed groups.

Qualitative data support the sense of self-worth and self-efficacy resulting from wage employment.

However, there is no evidence of long-run effects.

🖋Design decisions

The main design issues are:

• Targeting of different youth demographics. Not all interventions focused exclusively on disadvantaged youth, with some of them targeting more educated youth.
• The duration and content of training sessions.
• The selection of trainers, which can significantly affect the quality of the training, as trainers help in skills acquisition, supply of market information and award certification.
• The cost implications for implementing agencies, such as administrative expenses, staff salaries, etc.

• Venue and equipment, especially in hard skills training.

   

📈How are business skills programmes expected to work?

Business skills training equips participants with both technical knowledge relevant to business operations (e.g., financial management and marketing) and soft skills (e.g., communication and problem-solving). By empowering youth with business skills, these programmes aim to encourage the establishment of youth-owned private enterprises. As youth gain confidence and competence in business management, they are more likely to start and grow successful enterprises, creating jobs and contributing to economic expansion.

❗Implementation issues

The major implementation issues identified include

• project delays due to slow fund disbursement
• funding shortfalls
• lengthy procurement processes
• lack of coordination among stakeholders
• inadequate infrastructure

• insufficient staffing

   

🔎Implications for research

The research indicates that multicomponent interventions (integrated approaches combining training with financial support, mentorship, and other forms of assistance) are crucial for enhancing youth employment outcomes, highlighting the need for further investigation into these comprehensive strategies.

📜Evidence-based findings for policy and practice

Policymakers should prioritize multicomponent interventions to improve the effectiveness of business skills programmes.

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