Youth Economic Dialogue (YED), is a youth based organization that promotes civic leadership, good governance, business and entrepreneurship amongst African youth, by creating platforms for knowledge sharing in terms of development policy and practice. Established in 2011, the platform has led several initiatives aimed at positioning Young people at the forefront of global change and innovation. At
YED, we believe when empowered, the youth can be key agents for development and peace. Our Focus:
CIVIC LEADERSHIP
YED Programs are intended to help expand the core of future leaders with the knowledge, skills, and commitment to address Africa’s long-term issues by designing specific models for young Africans who want to serve in their communities, districts, region, state and countries. We undertake this function by collaborating with other Civil Society Organisations, Political Institutions and Government Agencies, with the aim of building a critical mass of change makers, critical thinkers and innovators to contribute to the leapfrogging of the continent. Through our initiatives, participants;
• Gain a better understanding of major national issues, the connections among them, and leading-edge thinking.
• Explore many of the major drivers of change and their impacts on state and public policy.
• Hone the capacity of the youth to cope with the volatility and complexity of public engagement and service.
• Grasp the multi-faceted, push-and-pull process of developing and implementing public policy. PROMOTING GOVERNANCE
About 65% of the total population of Africa is below the age of 35 years, and over 35% are between the ages of 15 and 35 years - making Africa the most youthful continent. By 2020, it is projected that out of 4 people, 3 will be on average 20 years old. Despite this promising statistics, inputs by the youthful population are not integrated into policy and programs design and formulation. The Youth Economic Dialogue seeks to address this challenge by employing several strategies towards promoting good governance, democratic development and youth integration in policy decision in Africa. We engage in these core areas;
• Policy and Programme Design
• Socio-Economic Research
• Capacity Building,
• Community Mobilization
• Public Education and Sensitization activities
• Ensuring Public Accountability
BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT SERVICES
The Youth Economic Dialogue (YED) advocates and provides support for young entrepreneurs throughout every stage of their businesses by capacity building, financing, mentoring and business resources. Our core areas of support include;
• Preparation of Business Plan, Feasibility Studies to evaluate both the ‘Supply and Demand sides’ of ready-for-finance business ideas, and support and coaching in their businesses and financial planning. designing of Websites, Corporate Logo’s, corporate stationery, PR etc.
• Advisory services – consisting of basic and advanced support to local MSME service providers, that provide support on business planning, negotiating deals, capital expansion, preparing for finance and investor readiness.
• Engaging Investors, Venture Capitalists, Banks, and especially Angel Investor networks, to invest in the selected start-ups and MSMEs.
• Business Referral Service- The program would maintain up-to-date knowledge of and relationships with established resources and programs in the area and provide referrals and information to beneficiaries via the establishment of a Management Information Systems.
