Benin Youth Employment Project

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The objective of the Youth Employment Project is to improve access to employment skills and employment opportunities for underemployed youth in Benin. There are four components to the project, the first component being developing skills through apprenticeships. This component will support improved access for underemployed youth to apprenticeships of improved quality in skilled trades, and help the Government and private sector trade associations to expand and improve nationally recognized certification for skills learned in such apprenticeships. The second component is the developing small business skills. This component will support the Agence Nationale pour la Promotion de l'Emploi (ANPE) to scale up and improve the quality of its existing programs to assist predominantly underemployed youth to develop skills related to establishing and managing a small business. The third component is the start-up support. The component will also provide mentoring to help youth address problems that may confront them as they try to establish their business, to market themselves, and to identify opportunities. Depending on the sector of activity, artisan associations or the ANPE may be tasked to provide such mentoring over time. Finally, the fourth component is the institutional capacity building and project management.