- Our Focus
The Challenge of Women & Youth Entrepreneurship
Women and youth-led enterprises account for the majority of businesses in sub-Saharan Africa, yet they face systemic barriers to growth and sustainability. Over 70% of women and youth entrepreneurs lack access to formal finance, business development services, and reliable market linkages. Women entrepreneurs alone face an estimated $42 billion financing gap, limiting their ability to invest, scale, and create jobs.
Youth-led businesses are often informal, undercapitalized, and vulnerable to shocks. Limited access to mentorship, weak financial literacy, regulatory barriers, and exclusion from formal markets constrain productivity and growth. Gender norms, unpaid care responsibilities, and limited asset ownership further restrict women’s participation in entrepreneurship ecosystems.
As a result, many micro and small enterprises remain survival-oriented rather than growth-oriented, unable to generate decent employment or contribute meaningfully to local economic development. Without targeted support, entrepreneurship risks perpetuating informality and inequality rather than serving as a pathway to economic empowerment.
Our Solution for Women & Youth Entrepreneurship
We strengthen women and youth entrepreneurship through a structured, market-oriented approach grounded in the ILO Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) methodology. Our model combines skills development with mentorship, financial literacy, and market access ensuring enterprises can start, stabilize, and scale sustainably.
We identify both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs and provide training in business management, financial planning, costing and pricing, legal compliance, branding, sales, and marketing. The SIYB approach emphasizes practical learning and real-world application, enabling entrepreneurs to improve productivity, profitability, and resilience.
Beyond training, we facilitate access to finance and markets. We link entrepreneurs to savings groups, microfinance institutions, banks, and digital financial services while delivering tailored financial literacy and investment readiness support. Participants gain exposure to potential clients, investors, and corporate partners through networking forums and market linkage initiatives.
Mentorship and peer learning are central to our approach. Women and youth entrepreneurs are paired with experienced business mentors who provide ongoing guidance, confidence-building, and problem-solving support. Special attention is given to women-led enterprises through gender-responsive design, flexible delivery models, and leadership development.
By integrating entrepreneurship training with access to finance, markets, and mentorship, HopeChild, Inc. enables enterprises to formalize, grow, and create decent jobs strengthening local economies and expanding opportunities for women, youth, and marginalized groups.
2030 Reach Target
650,000 women and youth entrepreneurs supported to start, stabilize, or scale businesses by 2030.
