The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a grant of $5.28 million to South Sudan to help create much-needed jobs for young people and women. The 'Job Creation through Youth and Women-led Micro and Small Enterprises (JMSE) Project' receives the African Development Fund grant under the Transition Support Facility (TSF).
The executing agency is the Ministry of Trade and Industry while the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is responsible for implementing the project. The UNDP has contributed $1.2 million to the project, which will run from January 2025 to December 2028.
The goal of the project is to develop an environment conducive to private sector growth and job creation. It also aims to improve the employability of young people and women and the growth of businesses, to improve access to capital and markets, and to coordinate the development of SMEs and the private sector.
"The JMSE project will create opportunities for youth, women and displaced populations to contribute to local economic recovery, confidence building and social cohesion, as well as peace building and stabilisation," said Themba Bhebhe, Country Office Manager for the African Development Bank in South Sudan.
The project focuses on the sustainable development of businesses, knowledge production and capacity development for competitiveness of SMEs.
South Sudan is a country with high levels of youth unemployment. The Bank is one of the main partners supporting the government's job creation initiatives. This project is expected to consolidate and build on the Bank's efforts, which have produced positive results in this area.
It will be implemented in two states: Northern Bahr-El-Ghazal and Western Bahr-El-Ghazal, which have a high proportion of vulnerable young people and displaced persons. The project will directly benefit 1,060 young people (50 percent female), 830 women who will receive support to create sustainable businesses, 50 existing youth-led micro and small enterprises (50 percent female-led) and 50 existing women-led MSEs to support job creation.
The African Development Bank, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the European Union, UNDP and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are some of the main development partners supporting the Government of Southern Sudan in the empowerment of youth and women.
