Across the participating communities in Enugu (Nigeria), Yaounde (Cameroon), Lilongwe (Malawi), and Abuja (Nigeria), young people face significant financial hardship and limited access to economic opportunities. Many of these youths lack both the practical skills required to generate income and the professional competencies that would make them viable candidates in the job market. As a result, they struggled to sustain themselves and faced barriers to long-term employment or entrepreneurship.
The Collaborative Youth Employability Project was a joint initiative implemented by four youth-focused organizations across Africa: Rising Hope Foundation (Cameroon), Development Edge (Enugu, Nigeria), Xel Xeeli Academy (Malawi), and Young African Innovators Hub -YAIH (Abuja, Nigeria). This impactful project was designed to empower young people between the ages of 18 and 35 with hands-on vocational and soft skills that enhance their employability and economic independence.
A total of 180youths across Nigeria, Cameroon and Malawi successfully completed the 4-day Collaborative Employability Project. These participants actively engaged in the three-day hands-on skill acquisition training, followed by the final day of virtual sessions focused on soft skills development.
The practical skills taught (baking, bag making, and bead making) empowered participants with viable income-generating abilities. These trades were chosen for their accessibility, relevance to local markets, and potential to help participants begin small-scale businesses almost immediately after training. In the virtual session, participants also gained critical job-readiness knowledge, including financial literacy, value proposition skills, CV building, and workplace success strategies, thereby strengthening their employability and self-reliance.
