As part of the ILO Technical Assistance Mission to the DRC-Angola Corridor Project aimed at strengthening youth employability and women's economic empowerment in the provinces of Kasai Oriental and Kasai Central in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Labour Organization (ILO) is supporting the implementation of an initiative to enhance the employability and economic empowerment of young people and women in the Project Area of Influence (PAI) along the Kananga-Kabeya Kamuanga corridor.
One of the project's key innovations is the integration of the ILO's entrepreneurship training tools, Generate Your Business Idea (GYBI) and Start Your Business (SYB), into the curricula of vocational training centres. As a result, trainees acquire not only the technical skills required for their chosen occupations but also the entrepreneurial competencies needed to identify business opportunities, develop income-generating activities and establish their own enterprises.
The initiative also focuses on strengthening the capacities of instructors, business counsellors and other local stakeholders to reinforce the local skills development system, promote entrepreneurship and foster decent employment.
By combining technical and entrepreneurial skills, the project equips young people with a broader range of career pathways, whether through wage employment, self-employment or business creation.
Strengthening the Capacity of Vocational Training Centres
To ensure the quality and sustainability of this approach, the project first invested in strengthening the capacities of pilot vocational training centres within the project intervention areas.
Between March and June 2026, 20 instructors, including 4 women, from the pilot vocational training centres were trained in the Generate Your Business Idea (GYBI) and Start Your Business (SYB) methodologies. The programme consisted of 10 days of classroom training, followed by 5 days of coaching, enabling instructors to integrate these entrepreneurship tools into their teaching and mentor young people in developing entrepreneurial projects.
Strengthening instructors' capacities represents a critical step towards sustainably embedding entrepreneurial competencies within the training programmes offered by the pilot centres.
Equipping Young People with Technical and Entrepreneurial Skills
The project also enabled 100 final-year trainees and recent graduates, including 60 women, to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills through the GYBI and SYB methodologies.
In addition to their technical training, participants acquired the knowledge and practical skills needed to identify business opportunities, develop business ideas and prepare business plans, thereby facilitating their transition into employment or self-employment.
Strengthening the Local Entrepreneurship Ecosystem through SIYB Training
The project also addresses the broader entrepreneurial support ecosystem to create lasting opportunities for economic inclusion.
To this end, 20 business counsellors, including 9 women, were trained in the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) methodology, Level 1, enhancing their capacity to support entrepreneurs and small businesses in business management, planning, marketing and productivity improvement.
Following their training, these counsellors provided business management training in local languages to 100 active entrepreneurs, including 59 women.
The training covered essential business management competencies, including day-to-day business operations, planning, marketing, costing, record keeping and strategies to improve business profitability and performance.
Learning Materials to Sustain Results
To support the quality and continuity of the training activities, 120 training manuals and learning materials were distributed to instructors, trainees, business counsellors and active entrepreneurs.
Beyond their immediate use, these resources help standardise training content while facilitating the long-term adoption and institutionalisation of the GYBI, SYB and SIYB methodologies by the various stakeholders involved.
Investing in Sustainable Skills Development for the Future of the DRC-Angola Corridor
The activities implemented during the first half of 2026 demonstrate how skills development can strengthen youth employability, promote entrepreneurship and enhance the capacities of local economic actors.
Beyond delivering training activities, the project seeks to demonstrate the added value of integrating entrepreneurial skills into vocational education and training programmes across the project intervention areas. Its objective is to lay the foundations for the progressive institutionalisation of this approach, ensuring that entrepreneurial competencies become a permanent complement to the technical skills delivered through vocational training.
By simultaneously investing in vocational training centres, instructors, young people, business counsellors and entrepreneurs, the project is helping to strengthen the local skills development system while improving entrepreneurship support services.
Across the Area of Influence of the DRC-Angola Transnational Corridor Project, these efforts are creating new economic opportunities for young people and women while reinforcing the capacities of local institutions and stakeholders to sustain this momentum well beyond the project's lifetime.
