{"id":16810,"date":"2026-06-20T12:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/msu-and-the-mastercard-foundation-partner-to-increase-youth-employment-in-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:38:18","slug":"msu-and-the-mastercard-foundation-partner-to-increase-youth-employment-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/msu-and-the-mastercard-foundation-partner-to-increase-youth-employment-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"MSU and The MasterCard Foundation partner to increase youth employment in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"A five-year, $13 million collaboration between Michigan State University and\u00a0The MasterCard Foundation<\/a>\u00a0will help 15,000 young people access employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the fast-growing horticulture, aquaculture, poultry, cassava, and oilseed sectors in Tanzania and Nigeria.\n
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Another project is being launched to provide youth employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nThe partnership, the AgriFood Youth Opportunity Lab, will focus on youth aged 18 to 24 in major foodshed regions surrounding Lagos and Dar es Salaam. The Ag Youth Lab will assist economically disadvantaged, hard-to-reach, and out-of-school youth transition into employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the agrifood system.\n\nMore than 60% of Africa\u2019s young people are jobless or underemployed, and formal job creation efforts in Africa\u2019s growing economies have been insufficient, according to African Economic Outlook. Comprising 20% of Africa\u2019s population, Tanzania and Nigeria together represent an important opportunity for intervention in skills acquisition, job creation, and employment for youth.\n\nThe program will have a special focus on gender equity, aiming for equal representation of young men and women across its programs and addressing policy, training, mentoring, and other constraints that affect the ability of young women to start enterprises or obtain employment.\n\nThe Ag Youth Lab will respond directly to opportunities and constraints identified in the 2016 MSU and The MasterCard Foundation\u00ad\u00a0Agrifood Youth Employment and Engagement Study<\/a>. The report highlighted the need to:\n