Entrepreneurship

The Next Economy

Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Somaliland SOS Children's Villages 2016-2023
Kyim
Photo by Doris Pamma, Wengis Photos © at Jos, Nigeria
Entrepreneurship

An established youth employment and entrepreneurship programme

The Next Economy empowers African youth to unleash their talents, build their confidence and hone the skills they need for a successful career in a job or as an entrepreneur. We support youth by giving them the opportunity to kick-start their professional future. Yet none of this works without a healthy and stimulating business climate. Therefore we actively strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems to empower future generations of African youth to earn a sustainable income and fulfil their potential.

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The Numbers

Stats & Progress

We like to keep track of our progress and overal impact:

1.800+

Jobs Created

5.100+

Youth Trained

$500.000+

Crowdfunding Raised

Video by Black Innovations Africa © at Jos, Nigeria
Details

The Main Activities

The Challenge

Matching African youth with jobs or entrepreneurial opportunities is especially important given the relatively rapid economic growth over the past 20 years which has not yet translated into employment opportunities for youth. The large majority of Africa’s 226 million working age youth experience great difficulty in transitioning into decent employment - 70% of the youth in Sub-Saharan Africa are thus under-employed and considered to be part of the “working poor.”

The Change

The Next Economy aims to provide support to motivated young people lacking access to decent work and opportunities by means of skills training, on-the-job-support and business incubation training. Ultimately, these aim to generate jobs through internships and supporting start-ups.

The Partnership

By working with various hubs, employability organisations, the private sector and government, the program aims to match youth ambitions and career goals with needs and opportunities in the labour market. SOS Children’s Villages is the lead partner in this consortium. The Next Economy is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Opportunity

The Next Economy creates jobs and opportunities for young people in challenging contexts. In its initial iteration from 2016 to 2019, 1251 decent jobs have been created. The second phase of the program (2020-2023) aims to create and sustain another 2108 direct decent jobs and train 5150 young people in life skills, employability, and entrepreneurship.

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SOS
partners

We work together with local hubs & SOS Children’s Villages

In Bamako, Lagos, Abuja, Jos, Hargeisa and Mogadishu we work with Impact Hub Bamako, FATE Foundation, Wennovation, Aspilos, Black Innovations Africa, Shaqodoon, HarHub and IITE (Simad University).

06 JIP VAN LEEMPUT
Responsible Impact Manager

Get in touch with Jip

For more information about the work we do within The Next Economy, please contact Jip or feel free to visit our website:

Email Jip The Next Economy
Contact Us

Get In Touch

Do you believe in the power of impact entrepreneurship and are you looking for a partner? If you would like to find out more about what we do, or how we can help you, please fill out the form below.

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Engineering Change

Transforming Societies
While You Wait