Promoting the private sector and employment

Project description

Title: Promotion of the private sector and employment in Yemen
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)​​​​​​​
Country: Yemen​​​​​​​
Overall term: 2019 to 2024

Context

Yemen is one of the world's least developed countries. The civil war that began in 2014 has led to a further deterioration in the already fragile economic and social situation. Imports to Yemen and its energy supply have collapsed almost completely and many businesses have had to close.

Despite this, solar energy generation has been growing since 2015. This has an important impact on agriculture and the operation of micro and small businesses. There is nevertheless potential for improving the quality of the current systems.

The IT sector provides sources of income for young people and is more attractive than other business sectors, particularly to women.

Moreover, micro and small businesses have difficulty in accessing innovative financial services. This problem is especially acute for women, as they often have no way of securing credit and frequently lack a basic understanding of financial products.

Objective

In Yemen, sources of income and employability are being improved in selected value chains, particularly in the solar sector.

Approach

The project works with micro and small businesses as well as with job-seekers. It supports private sector stakeholders through training courses and advisory services, particularly in the solar and IT sectors. The cities of Sana’a and Aden are the current focus, but this will be extended to Hadramaut in future.

The project operates in three areas of action:

First, it aims to improve the support measures and business prospects for company founders and local small and micro entrepreneurs.

Second, the project supports microfinance institutions in developing services aimed in particular at women's needs. At the same time, it develops and implements training courses on the basic principles of financial literacy.

Third, the project offers young people training opportunities tailored to the needs of micro and small entrepreneurs. These services are more closely aligned to the training and labour market.

Last updated: February 2022