Youth Action Lab is a joint initiative between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU), funded by the European Commission. Established to support youth-led initiatives and power-shifting approaches across Africa and Europe. The program aims to connect youth initiatives with peers, facilitate learning and collaboration, and bring youth voices and solutions to policy-makers at various levels, including the AU and the EU. Operates over a 3-year period with rolling calls for proposals. Reviewed and selected by a Youth Advisory Board (YAB). Provides “power-shifting” grants designed by youth, for youth. Part of the broader AU-EU cooperation framework focused on strengthening youth economic opportunities and cross-continental collaboration.
Funding Amount
- Current Call (Second Round – Social Enterprises): €30,000 EUR (fixed amount, cannot be higher or lower)
- First Call (Skills Development): €30,000 – €50,000 EUR
- Grant period: 12-18 months, depending on the project
- Can apply as an individual organisation or a consortium of youth organisations
Target
- Youth-led organisations (ages 18-35 where young people are decision-makers)
- Social enterprises – Non-profits, trusts, cooperatives, or community-based organisations combining social/environmental mission with income-generating activities
- Regular enterprises with clear social ambition and demonstrated social impact
- Individual youth organisations OR consortia of youth organisations
- Organisations serving young people in economic participation
- Focus on organisations that often lack opportunities for collaboration and scale-up
Closing Date
- Rolling calls over a 3-year program period
- Q&A sessions are held regularly to support applicants
Focus Areas
- Skills Development – Access to skills development opportunities according to the needs of young people and local economic realities; support start-up of new youth-led enterprises
- Responsible Growth of Social Enterprises – Youth-led social enterprises that consider social and environmental boundaries (CURRENT FOCUS – 2nd Call)
- Enabling Environment – Creating an enabling environment for young entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses
Eligibility Criteria
- Youth-led: Organisation or enterprise led by young people aged 18-35, where youth are the decision-makers
- Legally registered: Formal registration in the country of operation
- Bank account: Organisation/enterprise bank account required
- Governance structure: Clear governance framework in place
- Geographic location: Located and registered in one of 12 African Youth Action Lab focus countries: East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia (Somaliland region), Tanzania, Uganda; West Africa: Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone; Southern Africa: Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe; North Africa: Tunisia
- Track record: Annual budget or grants managed in the past minimum of €10,000 EUR
- Operational: For social enterprises – must have operational trading track record (not idea-stage)
For Social Enterprises Specifically:
- Must be non-profit, trust, cooperative, or CBO
- Clear social/environmental mission
- Income-generating/trading activities exist
- Revenue reinvested into the mission
- Not purely donor-funded NGOs with no enterprise activities
- Not a token social impact or incidental to profit-making
NOT ELIGIBLE:
- Purely for-profit SMEs where social impact is incidental or token
- NGOs are entirely donor-funded with no enterprise activities
- Idea-stage projects with no operational trading track record
- Organisations outside the 12 eligible African countries
- Organisations where youth (18-35) are not the primary decision-makers
- Applications for amounts different from €30,000 EUR
