YouthStart, a program that aims to increase access to financial services for low-income youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, recently reported that approximately 40,000 young people in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda have opened savings accounts with YouthStart’s partner institutions and deposited approximately USD 550,000 into those accounts since September 2012.
Nearly 30,000 of the youth who opened savings accounts also participated in a financial literacy training class. YouthStart has established a goal of 200,000 savings accounts opened by 2014.
In related news, YouthStart has formed a new partnership with Faitiere des Unites Cooperatives d’Epargne et de Credit du Togo (FUCEC), a network of financial cooperatives in Togo that is a part of the Confederation des Institutions Financieres (CIF), a Burkina Faso-based association of cooperatives that offer savings products in West Africa. YouthStart has granted USD 641,000 to FUCEC in an effort to help the cooperative reach approximately 56,400 youth aged 12 to 24 by July 2015, 60 percent of which are to be girls. FUCEC plans to serve people door-to-door and allow participants to save to pay their mandatory one-time membership fee of USD 5 over the course of ten months. Accountholders will be charged no other fees. FUCEC will also provide business loans for older youth who have saved with the cooperative for a minimum of three months. In the first stage of the effort, eight of FUCEC’s member cooperatives will participate in pilot programs that aim to reach 5,500 youth and add ten percent of the youths’ parents as clients.
YouthStart is a funded by the MasterCard Foundation, a Canada-based foundation that supports the provision of microfinance and education to people living in poverty, and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN agency that invests capital in the world’s 48 least developed countries.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
About the MasterCard Foundation
Based in Canada, the MasterCard Foundation is a private foundation with the goal of enabling people living in poverty to improve their lives with increased access to microfinance and education. The foundation was established in 2006 by a gift of shares from US-based payment processor MasterCard Worldwide during the company’s initial public offering. As of 2011, the MasterCard Foundation reported approximately USD 3.7 billion in assets.
About the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 48 least developed countries. It endeavors to create opportunities for poor people and their small businesses by increasing access to microfinance and other forms of investment capital. UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with particular commitment to countries emerging from crisis.
Sources and Additional Resources:
Information sent by YouthStart to MicroCapital
MicroCapital.org story, December 15, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MasterCard Foundation, UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Launch YouthStart to Expand Financial Services for Youth in Sub-Saharan,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-mastercard-foundation-un-capital-development-fund-uncdf-launch-youthstart-to-expand-financial-services-for-youth-in-sub-saharan-africa/
MicroCapital.org story, January 18, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Event Highlights SafeSave’s Asset-Building Microloans Product ‘P9’,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-united-nations-capital-development-fund-uncdf-event-highlights-safesaves-asset-building-microloan-product-p9/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: MasterCard Foundation
http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=MasterCard+Foundation
MicroCapital Universe Profile: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=United+Nations+Capital+Development+Fund+%28UNCDF%29
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