The “Creating Opportunities for Youth and Women in Africa” (COYWA) programme has already achieved excellent results with its first cohort, which saw 47 young entrepreneurs from 25 African countries following a blended training programme in financial literacy, digital literacy, branding strategy and digital marketing. The first cohort achieved a 99 per cent success rate, received perfect participant satisfaction scores across all evaluation indicators, and produced 15 graduates who achieved ‘distinction’, who are now in a position to act as mentor-facilitators during the programme’s next implementation phase. Building on these results, AUDA-NEPAD and AECID are expanding the programme through the second cohort, using a sub-regional model that combines four weeks of virtual learning with five days of intensive face-to-face training. The first face-to-face training session for the second cohort is scheduled to take place in Praia, Cape Verde, in June 2026, at the Business Lab of the University of Cape Verde, with a target of 75 participants from ECOWAS countries, including 25 participants from the host country.