Posted on December 16, 2010

MasterCard Foundation, UN Capital Development Fund Launch Initiative to Assist Sub-Saharan Africans

The MasterCard Foundation and the UN Capital Development Fund have announced a $12 million initiative to increase access to financial services among low-income youth in sub-Saharan Africa.

Through a competitive process, the YouthStart initiative will identify and support up to twelve financial institutions that pilot and roll out sustainable financial services tailored to youth. UNCDF also will work to encourage collaboration among financial institutions and providers of non-financial services, disseminating lessons learned from those efforts to help spur innovation and influence policy decisions.

Today, more than a quarter of the sub-Saharan population is between the ages of 12 and 24, while youth unemployment rates are two to three times the rate for adults. Young women, in particular, face a challenging transition to the workplace, as they are less likely than their male peers to have completed their primary schooling. Research suggests that financial services aimed at youth can best promote asset-building and sustainable livelihoods when coupled with life, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy training. Fewer than 5 percent of the region's youth, however, currently have access to financial services.

"The MasterCard Foundation is committed to helping youth start out right," said Reeta Roy, president and CEO of the foundation. "Through YouthStart, the [foundation] is opening up pathways for two hundred thousand sub-Saharan African youth, half of whom will be girls and young women, to gain access to financial services."