Mastercard Foundation Expands Young Africa Works Strategy to Nigeria

Mastercard Foundation, Nigeria Country Head, Mrs. Chidinma Lawanson

The Mastercard Foundation now has a presence in Lagos, Nigeria expanding its Young Africa Works strategy on the continent.  The Young Africa Works strategy is focused on enabling 30 million young people in Africa, especially young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.

To date, the Canadian Foundation has established offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Uganda, building a broader presence of the Foundation’s work in Africa.  Over the last 10 years, the Mastercard Foundation has worked in 30 African countries and its work has impacted more than 44 million young people.

As Africa is quickly becoming home to the world’s largest workforce, with a projected 375 million young people entering the job market by 2030, deliberate investment in young women and young men is the most transformative investment any society can make.

With the right skills, training, and education, these young people will contribute to Africa’s global competitiveness and improve their lives and those of their communities and countries.   Ensuring Africa’s young people are connected to employment opportunities or can build their own livelihoods is arguably the number one task for African policymakers.

There is no question that technology is changing the nature of work in Africa and around the world,” says Reeta Roy, President and CEO, Mastercard Foundation

Young Africa Works aims to create a pathway out of poverty for millions of young Africans and their families. In Nigeria, the Foundation is adopting an approach strategically aligned to the country’s poverty reduction strategies, which sees the government driving to diversify the economy, creating jobs, empowering young people, and bringing about technological growth. Building on this momentum, the Foundation will co-create initiatives with the private sector, young people, policymakers, and educators that are evidence-based, transformative, impactful, and scalable.

In Nigeria, Young Africa Works will focus on increasing young people’s work in Agriculture, in the Digital sector, and Creative Industries. Underpinning the growth of these sectors are financial inclusion and education programs targeting the existing challenges and providing a catalytic effect.  The Foundation will continue collaborating with its existing partners while identifying new partners to reach its overall goal of 10 million Nigerian young people, especially young women, in work opportunities by the year 2030.

The Mastercard Foundation, Nigeria Country Head, Mrs. Chidinma Lawanson explains that, “Partnering with financially sustainable and highly scalable social enterprises, like Babban Gona, which is part-owned by the farmers they serve, will give us the momentum to take Young Africa Works to scale”.  Mrs. Lawanson, who has over 24 years of experience in development finance and commercial banking further explains that, “the Babban Gona model uses training and education, access to financing, and a gainful source of income to ensure young people have the tools and skills they need to prosper.”

Jobberman, Nigeria’s largest recruitment platform with over 2.2 million candidates and approximately 60,000 employers, is another partner the Foundation is working with to train and link young people to work opportunities. Additionally, LEAP Africa is a partner that has inspired and equipped young people, business owners, and social entrepreneurs to be ethical leaders while implementing initiatives that transform their communities and organizations, sustain livelihoods, and contribute to national development.

Cellulant, a Pan-African FinTech company that provides an Agritech solution known as Agrikore for Africa’s agricultural sector, is another Young Africa Works partner. Cellulant powers a Food Processing Marketplace to source quality raw materials from local farmers and provides them to Food and Beverage Processors.

Approximately 46,724 jobs have been created and $50 million worth of raw produce has been traded annually on the Digital Marketplace by huge processors. This Young Africa Works  partnership intervention is expected to scale the marketplace operations to between $500 million to $1 billion per annum by the year 2025, thereby  creating (directly and indirectly)  more than 600,0000  jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities within the agri-food sector.

“There is no question that technology is changing the nature of work in Africa and around the world,” says Reeta Roy, President and CEO, Mastercard Foundation. “The continent is in the early stages of a technology revolution, and in some cases, Africa is leading with innovative business models through the widespread use of mobile technology and smartphones, which will create growth and work opportunities for millions of young people.”

February 24, 2020