Simply called YIEDIE, the Youth Inclusive Entrepreneurial Development Initiative for Employment was a five-year project funded by the MasterCard Foundation. The project had a pioneering focus on youth opportunities in the construction sector and was located in the five largest cities of Ghana where – Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, Tema, and Ashaiman.

YOTA worked as part of a YIEDIE Consortium for the first two years of the project (between 2015 and 2017) only. During those two years, YOTA worked with partners to support youth readiness for employment and entrepreneurship and to improve access to financial services for 23,700 urban youth between ages 17 – 24, with 60% female.

We curated demand-driven training, facilitated effective youth services provision, fostered youth enterprise support, and spearheaded employer engagement for youth seeking wage employment, all in the construction section. We did this by providing practical, on-the-job training to youth in technical skills that are in demand in the construction sector, leading to formal certification. We also provided tailored training in entrepreneurship, life skills and job readiness, financial literacy, and peer networking to youth that met the needs of the sector. We connected youth to demand-driven jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities through linkages to master craftspeople, private-sector employers, and industry associations. We further deployed mobile technology to reach more youth and to match informal labourers with job opportunities.