AU-EU Youth Action Lab Opens Call For Entrepreneurship Grants

The AU-EU Youth Action Lab has launched a second call for Entrepreneurship Grants, inviting youth-led organisations across Africa to apply for funding designed to accelerate the growth of social enterprises that combine sustainable business models with social and environmental impact. The grants form part of a broader effort to empower young people to lead economic transformation in their communities.

Phase 2 of the Youth Action Lab’s Call for Proposals opened in November 2025 and targets projects that advance the responsible growth of youth-led social enterprises, with a particular focus on those that generate income while driving measurable social and environmental benefits.

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Grant Scope and Funding

The Entrepreneurship Grants provide €30,000 in funding to youth-led organisations and coalitions, offering financial support for impactful projects that strengthen economic participation, enterprise resilience, and community outcomes.

Beyond direct financial support, grantees will gain access to structured mentorship, tailored capacity development, and a continental platform for knowledge exchange. Participation in the Youth Action Lab community also connects successful applicants to decision-makers and stakeholders across Africa and Europe.

What the Grants Aim to Achieve

The programme focuses on three interconnected goals for economic empowerment:

Skills development that aligns with local labour market needs and supports youth-centred enterprise growth.
Responsible scaling of social enterprises that balance financial sustainability with measurable community and environmental impact.
Strengthening enabling environments for youth entrepreneurship, including partnerships with local businesses, skills providers and policy actors.

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This grant cycle prioritises youth-led initiatives that can demonstrate both social mission and economic viability, encouraging proposals that blend innovation, enterprise sustainability and community relevance.

Eligibility and Requirements

To qualify for the Entrepreneurship Grants, organisations must meet the following criteria:

Be formally registered in one of the 12 focus countries for the Youth Action Lab programme, which include Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia (Somaliland region), Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Be classified as a non-profit youth organisation such as a Trust, Community-Based Organisation (CBO), NGO/CSO or Cooperative with a clear social or environmental mission.
Be youth-led at both governance and implementation levels, meaning decision-making authority and project execution must be driven by young people aged 18–35.
Have a minimum of 12 months’ operational history, a functioning governance structure, and documented evidence of revenue-generating activities linked to the enterprise’s mission.
Demonstrate social or environmental impact that aligns with the grant’s objectives, including measurable improvements in youth livelihoods, job creation, or access to services.
Ensure staff working on the project are primarily within the youth age range, and that any surplus revenue is reinvested to further organisational goals rather than distributed to private shareholders.

The open call specifically supports projects where entrepreneurial activities contribute to the core mission, reflecting the Lab’s emphasis on responsible enterprise growth rather than purely commercial ventures.

Eligible Activities and Focus Areas

Proposals may span a range of activities, provided they directly contribute to enterprise growth and youth economic empowerment. This could include:

Developing and testing new skills development curricula tailored to local workforce needs.
Scaling existing training initiatives to reach underserved or remote youth populations.
Facilitating learning exchanges between youth organisations, employers and local government or public stakeholders to enhance ecosystem support.

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The grant explicitly encourages innovative, integrated proposals that combine multiple activities to strengthen enterprise sustainability and social impact.

Application Timeline and Process

Interested organisations must submit proposals through the AU-EU Youth Action Lab’s official application platform. The deadline for submitting completed applications for the Entrepreneurship Grants is 7 January 2026 by 14:00 CAT / 15:00 EAT.

Submissions received after this deadline will not be considered. Applicants are advised to carefully review the detailed Funding Manual, available in English, French, and Portuguese, to ensure compliance with all technical and eligibility requirements.

Assessment of applications is expected to take several months, with notifications of outcomes anticipated around April–May 2026. Successful grantees will engage in a 12-month implementation period beginning in May 2026 and running through April 2027.