ECOWAS officially launches the Youth and Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (EYWEP)
On 31 July 2026 in Dakar, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission officially launched the ECOWAS Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Programme (ECOWAS Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Programme – EYWEP), a regional initiative aimed at strengthening the economic empowerment of young people and women through entrepreneurship, innovation and skills development.
The ceremony took place on the sidelines of the Meeting of Ministers responsible for Youth and Sport from ECOWAS Member States, which was dedicated to the validation and adoption of new regional policies on youth, sport and volunteering. This launch marks an important milestone in the implementation of ECOWAS’s Vision 2050, which places human capital, youth employment and the empowerment of women at the heart of regional integration.
Implemented by the ECOWAS Centre for Youth and Sports Development (CDJS), with technical and financial support from AUDA-NEPAD and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the EYWEP programme aims to create an enabling environment for the development of innovative and sustainable enterprises capable of generating decent jobs and stimulating economic growth across the ECOWAS region.
The programme will support young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs through an integrated package of services comprising capacity building, mentoring, access to business networks, technical support, and financing mechanisms tailored to the needs of high-potential enterprises. This approach aims to strengthen the competitiveness of beneficiaries and foster the emergence of a more dynamic and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in West Africa.
Through the launch of the EYWEP, the ECOWAS Commission reaffirms its commitment to promoting inclusive growth based on innovation, job creation, private sector development and the empowerment of young people and women. The programme will help to strengthen the economic resilience of Member States and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The EYWEP Programme thus constitutes a new regional platform for cooperation, innovation and investment in the entrepreneurial potential of West African youth and women, with a view to making entrepreneurship a genuine driver of prosperity, stability and regional integration.