Supporting the survival and recovery of youth-led MSMEs in the wake of COVID-19

Following a successful first year of the programme, YBI spearheaded a two year renewal of the Futuremakers programme funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation as part of Futuremakers by Standard Chartered.

The programme was delivered by YBI members and was funded by Standard Chartered Foundation, as part of Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, the Bank’s global youth economic empowerment initiative to provide skills development opportunities to boost employability and business training to encourage entrepreneurship.

Programme Overview

The Futuremakers initiative was first launched with YBI in 2020 in response to COVID-19 to support economic inclusion of MSME-owners across Africa, Asia and Europe. By the end of the first programme, 15,595 entrepreneurs (88% female, 12% male) had accessed in-depth support, such as webinars, mentoring and business clinics, coaching and advisory support.

Through the 2022-2024 programme, eight YBI members supported over 15,000 young entrepreneurs in Africa, Asia and Europe to start or strengthen a business and create over 8,000 new jobs.

Through intensive interventions, including training and mentoring, the initiative supported over 10,000 young female entrepreneurs and over 2,000 young entrepreneurs with disabilities

Priority was given to traditionally disadvantaged business owners including rural, female entrepreneurs, business owners with disabilities and visual impairments and those excluded from formal financial support.

The aim of the programme was to ensure that a diverse range of young entrepreneurs will contribute towards a richer, more varied and more resilient economy for everyone.

Programme Structure

The programme provided a wide range of crucial support to young entrepreneurs, including:

• Mentoring
• One-to-one consulting
• Peer coaching
• Advisory helplines
• Online resource platforms
• Pitch competitions and awards
• Webinars
• Workshops
• Business clinics
• Thematic seminars

These support services helped young entrepreneurs with business model adaptation, entrepreneurial leadership, crisis management, financial risk management, digital transformation, marketing and more.

The delivery partners were:

• ETIC in Japan
• FATE Foundation in Nigeria
• Habitat in Turkey
• Cordaid Uganda
• KIZ in Germany
• Young Africa Botswana
• YCAB Foundation in Indonesia
• Startup Vietnam Foundation