Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship Booster (YEEB) in Egypt
Context and objectives
The project Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship Booster (YEEB), based in Egypt, focuses on supporting green entrepreneurship or ecopreneurship, with the goal to foster a green entrepreneurial spirit and sustainable employment creation. It provides sustainable assistance to entrepreneurs and MSMEs to create and develop green initiatives that address climate-related challenges, as well as access to green finance instruments. The project aims to improve access of entrepreneurs to relevant knowledge resources and create a more conducive environment for entrepreneurial activities for women and men in the Assiut governorate.
Egypt’s unemployment rates demand attention and action. The total unemployment rate in Egypt is 7.2%, with 4.9% for men and 17.7% for women. Youth unemployment rate in Egypt is estimated at 24.25% in 2021, with a high percentage of young women. Particularly, the Assiut governorate holds the highest unemployment rates in the country.
Consequently, Egypt’s economy is facing high pressure which, in turn, is undermining natural resources. Especially agriculture, fisheries and other water-dependent sectors have been identified extremely vulnerable to the over-exploitation of natural resources, as well as to climate change effects. A decline in these sectors can therefore lead to water scarcity, food insecurity and a deterioration of human health and national economies. In this context, green economy emerges as a mechanism for the private sector, in collaboration with the public sector, to engage in climate change adaptation and mitigation, while using natural resources more sustainably.
With the goal to foster the green transformation of the Egyptian economy, the “Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship Booster in Egypt” (YEEB) programme aims to strengthen the inclusion of young Egyptians in a gender-sensitive labour market. Specifically, the project targets MSMEs activities and capabilities to enable income generation and job creation in green and sustainable sectors. To this end, the programme provides training and coaching sessions on ecopreneurship and green finance, to promote local solutions and innovations.
The YEEB project brings together the public and private sector to increase cooperation between them. Governmental institutions at the national and local level are crucial for the creation of an enabling environment for green initiatives. Likewise, the private sector is a key actor for providing research, studies and consultations, and financial institutions are essential to mobilize more investments towards climate friendly activities. Overall, by promoting cooperation between all these actors and engaging civil society and entrepreneurs, this initiative can contribute to a more sustainable and enduring society in Egypt.
Location
Key figures
Duration:
12 months
Number of beneficiaries:
100 direct beneficiaries
Budget for the action:
249,565.12 EUR
Grant awarded:
199,652.10 EUR
Promoter
PPI is an international NGO involved in the construction and management of programmes aimed at preventing the socio-economic resilience of populations excluded from the traditional channels of education and employment. PPI particularly supports young people and women living in priority countries for Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Key partners
Beneficiaries
- 100 direct beneficiaries, including 60 young women and 40 young men between 18 and 35 years old.
- 400 indirect beneficiaries, including households of direct beneficiaries and jobs created through the development of entrepreneurial projects.
Key actions
Carry out individual needs assessments of selected beneficiaries: work together with the selected entrepreneurs to understand their projects and their capacity-building needs.
Provide ecopreneurship training according to assessed individual needs, considering their level of skills and the nature of the business project.
Provide ongoing support and coaching to selected entrepreneurs in topics such as ideation, business model and strategy, business plan, value proposition, marketing, financial management, resource management, accounting, sales, negotiation techniques, pricing, and business management.
Connect entrepreneurs with relevant financial institutions and support them in applying for loans.
Strengthen the Employability and Entrepreneurship Counselling Centre in ABWA’s premises – to internalise the ecopreneurship support pathway for young women and men in Assiut.
Launching a resource hub on green economy and conducting a training of trainers towards ABWA’s trainers and mentors, in collaboration with ABWA’s existing Employability and Entrepreneurship Counselling Centre (EECC).
Organize awareness raising events on the green transition and the role of women in the green economy.
Expected results
Young women and men in Assiut governorate receive trainings to acquire the necessary skills on green entrepreneurship and are supported to create or develop their green enterprises.
A more conducive environment to support the green transition emerges in the governorate.
There is an improvement of conditions in Assiut for the development of innovative, sustainable approaches to tackle climate change mitigation and adaption related challenges.
Gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the project by the provision of tailored capacity building measures to start their green enterprises and through awareness-raising events on the role of women in the green economy.
Assiut’s youth receives the knowledge and the tools to create businesses that solve environmental problems and/or operate sustainably in the main sectors of the green economy.
Increase of income generation and job creation in green and sustainable related sectors. The action will target green sectors demanded by the Egyptian labour market, and especially in the Assiut governorate, to facilitate the process of starting green businesses and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
