ECOWAS Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Programme (EYWEP) – (Grant up to $15,000.00)

Deadline: 16Th July 2026 at 23:59 GMT

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through its Centre for Youth and Sports Development (CDJS/ECOWAS), is implementing the ECOWAS Youth and Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (EYWEP) with the technical and financial support of AUDA-NEPAD.

This program aims to promote the economic empowerment of young people through capacity building, technical support, mentoring, networking, access to business support services and the development of sustainable entrepreneurship in the community space.

As part of the pilot phase, ECOWAS is launching this call for projects to select young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35 who already have an existing business or an operational entrepreneurial activity, and who need targeted support to properly start, consolidate, developor continue their production.

Eligible Domains

Businesses or activities must fall under one of the following priority sectors:

• pharmaceutical industry;
• information and communication technologies (ICT);
• solar energy and renewable energy;
• agrosilvopastoral activities and agricultural value chains

Grants 

At the end of the process, the best projects selected from each country will be able tobenefit from grants, special prizes and a connection with financial and technical partners, accordingto the modalities set by ECOWAS.

Category Indicative amount:

• First Place $15,000.00
• Second Place $10,000.00
• Third Place $5,000.00
• Special Award Best Regional Business Plan $5,000.00

The selected young people will also benefit in particular:

• targeted training;
• technical and managerial support;
• one-on-one mentoring;
• support for the improvement of the management of the company;
• networking and visibility opportunities;
• putting them in touch with partners, support institutions and financing actors;
• support for the consolidation of their activity and the development of their production.

Target Audience

This call is open exclusively:

• young people aged 18 to 35;
• nationals or residents of one of the seven pilot countries; Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Sierra Leone
• young people who already have an existing business, formal or informal, or anentrepreneurial activity already underway;
• start-ups, structuring or growth start-ups;
• young developers in need of support to strengthen, stabilize or develop their business.

Application Documents

The application must include:

• an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV);
• a copy of a valid identity document;
• a presentation note of the company or activity;
• a simplified business plan or a presentation of the business model;
• a projected financial plan;
• the company’s legal documents, if applicable;
• any additional document useful for the assessment of the activity.
• All documents must be consolidated into a single PDF file.

Submission of applications

Complete applications must be sent to the email address corresponding to the candidate’s country.

Subject of the email: “EYWEP Program Application – Existing Businesses”

Country                            Email address

Benin                                benin.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

Ivory Coast                       cotedivoire.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

Gambia                             gambia.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

Ghana                               ghana.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

Guinea-Bissau                    guineabissau.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

Senegal                              senegal.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

Sierra Leone                        sierraleone.eywep@cdjscedeao.org

For more information.