By Emmanuella Opara | November 10th 2026
KEY POINTS
- LEAP Africa has called for increased investment, stronger policy support and public-private partnerships to help youth-led enterprises expand.
- The organisation made the call at the 13th Social Innovators Programme and Awards in Lagos, attended by more than 200 entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers.
- Africa’s youth population is projected to exceed 830 million by 2050.
- Mastercard Foundation’s Nigeria Country Director, Rosy Fynn, said financing and policies must reflect the realities of young entrepreneurs.
MAIN STORY
LEAP Africa has called for increased investment and stronger policy support to help youth-led businesses overcome funding and market access challenges, as it pushes for greater recognition of young entrepreneurs in Africa’s economic development.
The organisation made the call at the 13th edition of its Social Innovators Programme and Awards in Lagos, which brought together more than 200 young social entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and business leaders.
The event, themed ‘Africa as the Sector: Maximising Youth Agency for a Prosperous Africa – Leveraging Technology, Finance and Policy’, focused on structural challenges limiting the growth of innovative businesses and explored opportunities to connect young entrepreneurs with investors, partnerships and markets.
LEAP Africa said the need to support youth-led enterprises was becoming more pressing as Africa’s youth population is projected to exceed 830 million by 2050.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of LEAP Africa, Kehinde Ayeni, said young entrepreneurs were already creating economic value by developing businesses that addressed market and development challenges, but their ability to expand remained constrained by limited access to finance, markets and supportive policies.
She called on investors, policymakers and business leaders to change how they approach youth entrepreneurship, arguing that young business owners should be recognised as contributors to economic growth rather than simply beneficiaries of development programmes.
In her keynote address, the Country Director of Mastercard Foundation Nigeria, Rosy Fynn, said Africa’s economic prospects would depend not only on its growing youth population but also on the opportunities available to young people to participate in economic activities.
Fynn called for financing models that reflect the circumstances of the people they are designed to support, noting that funding requirements differ across businesses and communities.
She also stressed the importance of creating policies that allow enterprises to grow and urged stakeholders to strengthen collaboration rather than pursue disconnected interventions.
Similarly, the Founder and Managing Director of JNC International and Chair of LEAP Africa’s Board, Clare Omatseye, said supporting social enterprises required more than providing seed funding.
She identified stronger institutional structures, sustainable financing models and policies that enable businesses to compete and expand as necessary conditions for building viable enterprises.
Omatseye said Africa’s economic future would depend partly on its ability to create an environment where young people could develop businesses, generate employment and build sustainable sources of income.
She added that partnerships and institutional support were necessary to ensure that innovative ideas translated into commercially viable businesses with social impact.
THE ISSUES
Access to finance, markets and supportive policies remains a major challenge for youth-led enterprises across Africa. While young entrepreneurs are developing solutions to economic and social problems, limited funding and weak institutional support can restrict their ability to expand operations and create jobs.
The discussion at the LEAP Africa event also highlighted the need to move beyond short-term funding interventions. Sustainable business growth requires financing structures that reflect the needs of different enterprises, alongside policies and partnerships that support their long-term development.
With Africa’s youth population expected to exceed 830 million by 2050, the ability to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship will remain an important part of the continent’s economic development agenda.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“For too long, conversations about Africa’s young people have focused on their potential rather than the economic value they are already creating. Across the continent, young entrepreneurs are building businesses that address real market and development challenges. Yet, access to finance, markets and enabling policies continues to determine how far these solutions can go,” Kehinde Ayeni, Executive Director of LEAP Africa, said.
“Our prosperity will not depend simply on how many young people we have but the power they have to act. Financing must be designed around the realities of the people it wants to serve. It is not a one size fits all,” Rosy Fynn, Country Director of Mastercard Foundation Nigeria, said.
WHAT’S NEXT
LEAP Africa is calling for closer collaboration among investors, governments and private-sector organisations to improve financing opportunities, strengthen policy frameworks and expand market access for youth-led businesses.
BOTTOM LINE
LEAP Africa wants governments, investors and businesses to treat youth-led enterprises as important contributors to Africa’s economic growth. Its position is that unlocking their potential will require more than funding individual ideas, with stronger institutions, sustainable financing and supportive policies also needed.
