The African Development Bank (AfDB) will lend Angola $79 million dollars (€73 million) to promote entrepreneurship and youth employment in agriculture and transport, according to a statement released by the financial institution.
The bank will finance around two thirds (63.4%) of the Angolan Youth Employment Project (AYEP or “Grow Project”) for a total of approximately 125 million dollars, with the Angolan government contributing 23.3% and the private sector the remaining 0.4%.
The aim is to train more than 95,000 young people in digital technologies and technical and vocational education and training in “climate-smart agriculture and transportation”.
The AYEP aims to develop “demand-driven digital, technical, green and entrepreneurial skills, stimulate creativity and innovation among young people and support startups in accessing innovative financing” and will be implemented between 2025 and 2029, according to the AfDB.
The aim is also to improve the operating environment for companies and help develop institutional capacity in the field of public procurement.
Angola has the second fastest growing population in Africa and half of its 35 million inhabitants are young people. It is estimated that the agricultural sector will employ more than 50% of the total workforce (2022 data), while the transport sector “has the potential to create numerous jobs through its value chains, at a time when the country is increasingly becoming one of Africa’s main logistics hubs”.