The African Development Bank (AfDB) has partnered with Swiss startup competition Seedstars World to launch an initiative called the AfDB Job Creation Track, which will support youth employment and entrepreneurship in Africa.
“The main goal is to find and reward the startups with the greatest potential to create jobs, support the youth and impact their local ecoystems,” Seedstars said in a statement on Monday.
The partnership is in line with the bank’s entrepreneurship and innovation lab under its Jobs for Youth in Africa strategy.
The AfDB aims to create 25-million jobs and equip 50-million young people with skills to enhance their employability and entrepreneurial success by 2025.
The strategy will support countries to stimulate entrepreneurship, youth employment and economic development with a focus on young women.
As part of the Job Creation Track, Seedstars is adding the criterion “the potential for job creation” in selecting the local competition winners.
The AfDB will select and award the startup that demonstrates the biggest potential for sustainable job creation, with three months’ access to the Seedstars investment readiness programme.
The bank will also be the main partner for the remaining local bootcamps, as well as a two-day private bootcamp during the Seedstars Africa Summit from December 2 to 5, with an emphasis on improving gender balance across all activities.
As a catalyst for the best business and investment opportunities in the region, the summit will bring together its network of startups, investors, mentors, ambassadors, partners and over 300 key stakeholders from across the continent.
Jobs for Youth in Africa coordinator Tapera Jeffrey Muzira said this was a spectacular initiative that would jumpstart Africa’s encouragement of youth involvement in business enterprise and job creation.
“This partnership between the bank and Seedstars is an electrifying component of the bank’s continuing commitment to sustainable job creation for women and young people across the continent.”