Youth Business Development and Entrepreneurship Skills
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Youth Unemployment Is Not a Lack of Ambition. It Is a Lack of the Right Support at the Right Time.
Young people across the region have entrepreneurial energy in abundance. What they lack is structured, well-designed business development support from practitioners who know how to design programmes that produce sustainable businesses, not just motivated participants.
Are any of these challenges familiar?
- Your youth entrepreneurship programme produces business plans but very few actual businesses
- Young participants are excited during the programme but do not sustain momentum afterwards
- You are delivering business skills training but the content is not adapted to the markets and realities young people face
- Your programme lacks the mentoring and aftercare structure that makes entrepreneurship support actually work
- Funders are asking for impact data on business creation and survival but you cannot generate it
- You want to design a youth business development programme from scratch but do not know where to start
This course gives practitioners the framework and tools to design entrepreneurship programmes that actually produce sustainable businesses.
Who This Course Is For
Youth Workers and Educators
Practitioners who work with young people on employability and entrepreneurship and want a rigorous framework for their programme design.
NGO Programme Staff
Programme managers designing or running youth economic empowerment initiatives funded by USAID, FCDO, Gulf foundations, or national governments.
Government Youth Ministry Staff
Ministry officials responsible for national youth entrepreneurship initiatives and employment programmes.
Corporate CSR Managers
Professionals managing youth entrepreneurship CSR programmes who want to move beyond one-off workshops to sustained business development support.
Incubator and Accelerator Managers
Professionals running business support structures for young entrepreneurs who want to strengthen their programme design and delivery.
Vocational Training Professionals
TVET practitioners who want to integrate entrepreneurship skills into their technical training offer.
What You Will Leave With
Practical tools you can use the day you return to work.
Programme Outline
Why this module matters: Understanding the ecosystem young entrepreneurs operate in is the starting point for designing effective support. Module 1 examines the youth entrepreneurship landscape across the GCC and Africa and introduces a rigorous framework for programme design.
- Youth entrepreneurship in GCC and Africa: the opportunities, barriers, and policy environment
- Types of youth business support: awareness, skills training, incubation, acceleration, and finance
- Programme design principles: what works and what the evidence shows does not
- Needs assessment for youth entrepreneurship: understanding your target group's starting point
- Theory of Change for youth entrepreneurship programmes
- Case studies: successful youth business development programmes from the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa
Why this module matters: The quality of the business skills curriculum determines whether young people leave with real knowledge or just motivation. Module 2 gives participants a ready-to-use curriculum framework and the facilitation skills to deliver it effectively with young people.
- Core business skills for young entrepreneurs: what to teach and in what sequence
- Business ideation tools: helping young people generate and validate business ideas
- Business model canvas: using it as a teaching tool with young people
- Financial literacy for young entrepreneurs: pricing, costing, cash flow, and record-keeping
- Marketing for young entrepreneurs: digital marketing, social media, and community-based promotion
- Experiential learning approaches: how to make business skills training active and sticky
Why this module matters: The training is the beginning, not the end. Module 3 focuses on the support structures that determine whether young people actually start and sustain businesses after the programme ends.
- Why aftercare matters: what the evidence shows about post-training support and business survival
- Mentoring programme design: selecting, training, and managing business mentors
- Coaching skills for practitioners: helping young people problem-solve their business challenges
- Peer learning networks: how to build communities of practice among young entrepreneurs
- Virtual support: using WhatsApp, online platforms, and digital tools for ongoing business support
- Managing dropout and failure: how to support young people whose businesses do not survive
Why this module matters: The most common barrier young entrepreneurs face after training is access to capital and markets. Module 4 addresses both, with practical strategies that have worked in GCC and African contexts.
- Finance options for young entrepreneurs: grants, microfinance, angel investment, and family funding
- Supporting young people through the finance application process
- Market linkage strategies: connecting young entrepreneurs to real customers
- Value chain integration: how to position young businesses within existing market structures
- Public procurement and government contracting: opportunities for young entrepreneurs
- Corporate partnerships: connecting young businesses to corporate supply chains and CSR programmes
Why this module matters: Module 5 connects everything to the evidence base: how to know if your programme is working, how to report on it to funders, and how to use data to improve it continuously.
- M&E for youth entrepreneurship programmes: the right indicators at each programme stage
- Measuring business survival and growth: data collection approaches that are realistic in resource-constrained settings
- Funder reporting for youth entrepreneurship: what USAID, FCDO, Gulf foundations, and national governments want to see
- Programme improvement cycles: using data to strengthen your programme design
- Your programme design plan: specific commitments for your organisation
- Presentations and peer review
Common Questions
Is this course relevant to both GCC and African contexts?
Yes. The course draws on programme examples from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Jordan. The business environments, funding landscapes, and market dynamics are different, and the course addresses both rather than assuming a single context.
Do I need a business background to attend?
No. The course is designed for development practitioners, youth workers, and educators, not business professionals. The focus is on programme design and delivery skills, not on starting a business yourself.
Can this be run in-house for our organisation?
Yes. We can tailor the course to your specific programme context, target group, and funder requirements. We have delivered in-house versions for organisations running youth entrepreneurship programmes across the GCC and East and West Africa.
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📅 Upcoming Schedules — View dates and locations ▾
We run this course as a private programme for organisations. Bespoke dates, tailored content, group pricing.
Every course starts with a needs assessment and includes structured follow-up at three points after it ends.