Application Deadline: 9 September 2016 (French Version Cliquez Ici)
The African Union Commission in collaboration with ECOWAS, the National Agency for the Promotion of Youth Employment in Senegal and YALI are pleased to announce a call for applications to the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Skills Development Forum (YEES-Forum).
The forum aims at bringing young African entrepreneurs to learn, network, share experiences and good practices, motivate each other and showcase their businesses and thereby be an inspiration to one another. The YEES forum is scheduled to be held from the 5th of October to the 7th of October in Dakar Senegal. This forum targets the Francophone Countries and follows the inaugural forum that was held in Kenya in 2014 targeting Anglophone Countries.
The YEES forum is driven by the realisation that interventions focused on linkages will improve the value chain by enabling the flow of critical services through embedded arrangements. In addition to peer to peer linkages, these interventions shall also focus on linking regional competitive youth entrepreneurs to industry champions thus addressing some of the challenges faced by young people, particularly women in business and providing a platform for peer learning.
The forum aims to attract entrepreneurs with scalable businesses who are currently employers of labour and are interested in working towards a better Africa.
Participants at the forum will benefit from:
- Improved business development skills through practical workshops;
- Collaborative learning and sharing of experiences to increase success rates for business start-ups among young entrepreneurs;
- Opportunity to identify successful business men or women to act as Mentors for young entrepreneurs;
- Opportunities to engage with young entrepreneurs in dynamic sectors of the emerging intra-Africa trade including extractives and agri-business.
The program will include: - Training: Training sessions on core business development including building a sustainable financial structure and personal development. The sessions will also introduce participants to various mentoring techniques as well as new tools for effective mentoring.
- Exhibition: This exhibition will give opportunity to young entrepreneurs to showcase their products and explore new market opportunities. Business development service providers will also be invited to proffer advice to the young entrepreneurs
- Field Visits: Participants visit a successful enterprise owned by young entrepreneurs in the host country. This is expected to inspire the participants and serve as successful models for their own enterprise development and managemen
- Experience Sharing: Key business organizations and leaders will be identified to facilitate the forum. The regional entrepreneurship development platform to be established shall provide back stopping for experience sharing, mentoring and business development services
Date and Venue:
The YEES Forum will take place from 5th to 7th of October 2016 in Dakar Senegal.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Open to Citizens of African Francophone Countries;
- African youth between the ages of 15 and 35. Women are strongly encouraged to apply;
- Must be able to speak and work in at least one AU working language (English, French, Arabic or Portuguese).
Benefits
- Participation Cost: Young entrepreneurs can sponsor themselves to this workshop and there is also a limited number of scholarships available to entrepreneurs. Please indicate if you will be interested in sponsorship while applying.
Further Info
Ms. Diana Diallo | Department of Human Resources Science and Technology | African Union Commission | Email: DialloD@africa-union.org
Mr. Nicholas Ouma | Department of Human Resources Science and Technology | African Union Commission | Email: OumaN@africa-union.org
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