ECOWAS Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Programme (EYWEP) 2026 – YOA

Deadline: July 16, 2026

Applications are open for the ECOWAS Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Programme (EYWEP) 2026. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), by means of its Centre for Youth and Sports Development (CDJS/ECOWAS), is implementing the ECOWAS Youth and Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (EYWEP) with the technical and monetary assist of AUDA-NEPAD.

This program goals to advertise the financial empowerment of younger individuals by means of capability constructing, technical assist, mentoring, networking, entry to enterprise assist providers and the event of sustainable entrepreneurship in the neighborhood area. As part of the pilot part, ECOWAS is launching this name for initiatives to pick younger entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35 who have already got an present enterprise or an operational entrepreneurial exercise, and who want focused assist to correctly begin, consolidate, develop or proceed their manufacturing.

Benefits

At the top of the method, the perfect initiatives chosen from every nation will have the ability to profit from grants, particular prizes and a reference to monetary and technical companions, in response to the modalities set by ECOWAS.

• First Place: $15,000
• Second Place $10,000
• Third Place $5,000
• Special Award Best Regional Business Plan: $5,000

Eligibility

This name is open completely to:

• Young individuals aged 18 to 35;
• Nationals or residents of one of many seven pilot nations: Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Sierra Leone;
• Young individuals who have already got an present enterprise, formal or casual, or an entrepreneurial exercise already underway;
• Start-ups, structuring or progress begin-ups;
• Young builders in want of assist to strengthen, stabilize or develop their enterprise.

Selection Criteria

Applications will likely be evaluated primarily based on the next standards:

• relevance of the exercise or firm;
• stage of structuring of the entrepreneurial undertaking;
• potential for strengthening and progress;
• financial and monetary viability;
• actual want for assist and networking;
• manufacturing or service capability;
• present or potential socio-financial affect;
• potential for job creation or upkeep;
• motivation of the candidate;
• capacity to reap the benefits of the teaching program.

Application

The application should embrace:

• an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV);
• a duplicate of a legitimate identification doc;
• a presentation observe of the corporate or exercise;
• a simplified marketing strategy or a presentation of the enterprise mannequin;
• a projected monetary plan;
• the corporate’s authorized paperwork, if relevant;
• any extra doc helpful for the evaluation of the exercise.

All paperwork have to be consolidated right into a single PDF file. Complete functions have to be despatched to the e-mail handle akin to the candidate’s nation.

Subject of the e-mail: “EYWEP Program Application – Existing Businesses”

For extra info, go to EYWEP.