Despite improved access to education in recent decades, many young people in Africa, Latin America, and Asia still lack the technical and “soft” skills critical for obtaining productive employment or starting a business. This represents a massive missed opportunity—not just for the youths themselves but for local economies and entire nations.
Investing in Young Entrepreneurs: A Key to Poverty Reduction
In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, over 70% of the population is under the age of 30. Enabling young people to find sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurship or employment is crucial for stimulating economic growth, reducing poverty, improving social well-being, and maintaining political stability.
For over 50 years, TechnoServe has been working to provide youth with business skills training, mentorship, access to finance, and market linkages to transform their lives and communities. Meet three of these inspirational young entrepreneurs below.
Highlights: A Bright Future for Three Young Entrepreneurs
- Babatundé Oguidi in Benin: Seeing an opportunity to reduce plastic waste through biodegradable packaging, Babatundé started his own business but initially struggled with managing finances and operations. After participating in a TechnoServe program, he gained critical business skills to improve his working capital, increase his income, and invest in upgrading his production.
- Asia Abdallah in Tanzania: Like many Tanzanian youth, Asia faced a lack of job opportunities. She joined a TechnoServe program, where she learned employability skills and interview techniques. This enabled her to get hired as a caterer, providing income for her family and giving her the courage to pursue her dreams.
- Roberto Landaverde in El Salvador: Roberto started a sign language academy but lacked business management abilities until joining a TechnoServe program, where he learned administrative and financial skills. As a result, he was able to significantly grow his student base, pay himself a salary for the first time, and set his business on a more sustainable path.
Babatundé Oguidi in Benin
Growing up as a passionate advocate for the environment, Babatundé Oguidi knew that Benin had a plastic problem. He only had to walk down his street on any given day to see massive amounts of discarded plastic bags, bottles, and other materials. While pursuing his degree in finance and accounting, Babatundé learned about the possibility of developing biodegradable packaging. Seeing an opportunity to reduce plastic waste and earn a good living, he started his own packaging business. But the road to success was not easy.
When Babatundé started the business in 2015, he was highly motivated but did not have the business skills and marketing connections to run a profitable business. His small team of three faced challenges such as competition from large international manufacturers, insufficient capital, and a lack of affordable raw materials.
In 2018, Babatundé heard about a TechnoServe program called BeniBiz and decided to join. BeniBiz is a business accelerator that seeks to harness the power of entrepreneurship to create economic opportunities for young people in Benin. Through the program, Babatundé learned critical business management, customer outreach, marketing, and networking skills.
“With BeniBiz, we had the happiness to better manage and control our finances,” Babatundé shared. “This allowed us to strengthen our working capital, increase our income, and ensure the regular payment of wages.”
With the additional revenue, Babatundé hopes to invest in upgraded equipment, such as cutting molds, to reduce production and delivery time. Eventually, he would also like to expand Ola-Bio Benin to a bigger space, allowing him to take on even more projects and reach new markets outside Parakou.
Read more about Babtundé’s story.
Asia Abdallah in Tanzania
Asia was raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her mother was the sole provider for the family of five, and they often struggled to pay the bills and put food on the table. Asia wanted to help support her family but needed a job and a reliable source of income.
Asia’s problem is not uncommon. In Tanzania, 800,000 youth enter the job market annually, with only about 40,000 formal jobs available. Entrepreneurship presents a path toward economic independence for youth, particularly in areas where formal employment opportunities are scarce. However, young people often lack the practical skills they need to be successful as entrepreneurs.
In 2019, Asia joined TechnoServe’s Pan-African Youth Entrepreneur Development (PAYED) program, a partnership with the Citi Foundation. The program equipped young entrepreneurs like Asia with the skills they need to gain formal employment or run their own businesses.
Through the employability training, Asia learned about available employment opportunities in her community that reflected her qualifications and skills. TechnoServe trainers helped Asia identify catering as a good match. She also learned techniques for successful job interviews. With these new skills, Asia soon applied, interviewed, and received a job offer to work as a caterer among service providers at Agha Khan Hospital.
“I’m proud of my job because it brings bread to the table,” Asia shared. “I’m also proud of the life skills that I learned because they give me more courage to pursue my dreams and think about my future.”
Roberto Landaverde with a TechnoServe business advisor in El Salvador. (TechnoServe).
Roberto Landaverde in El Salvador
Roberto Landaverde knew El Salvador needed to be a more inclusive society for the deaf community. In 2018, he started EnSeñas to teach sign language and braille, and rented a classroom to run his side business two days a week. When he was laid off from his job, Roberto took the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.
Roberto had a passion for teaching but lacked the management skills to grow EnSeñas. So, a friend convinced Roberto to join the Crece Tu Empresa (CRECE) program in 2019, where he gained administrative skills, learned about financial organization, and got help expanding his business.
In El Salvador, lack of access to quality education has left many young people without the skills they need to find jobs in the formal workforce or run successful businesses. Despite modest economic growth pre-COVID, the region has not created enough new jobs to keep up with the emerging workforce. In 2019, nearly 28% of youth in El Salvador were neither in school nor working.
Participating in the CRECE program has been transformative for Roberto. EnSeñas went from a membership of 40 students to 80 regular students. For the first time in four years, Roberto began to pay his own salary from his business’s profits, and his company is now more orderly, both administratively and financially.
“Thanks to the support of the program, I was able to reduce costs, improve in the administrative area, digitalize the academy, and dedicate myself 100% to my entrepreneurship,” Roberto said.
Read more about Roberto’s story.
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Olivia Sakai is a senior communications specialist at TechnoServe.
