YEIB-MANCO, MoCI Open New Path to Finance Young Entrepreneurs | News

The government has taken another step toward addressing one of the country’s most persistent economic challenges—helping young people move from unemployment and informal enterprise into sustainable businesses capable of attracting investment, creating jobs and generating income.

On August 28, 2026, the government, through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in collaboration with the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank Management Company (YEIB-MANCO), officially launched the YEIB-MANCO Technical Assistance Program, a major component of the country’s emerging youth entrepreneurship financing ecosystem.

The initiative is financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and implemented through the Ministry’s Small Business Administration. Its immediate focus is not handing entrepreneurs cash, but helping them build businesses that can eventually qualify for financing, connect with markets and withstand the pressures of growth.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Magdalene Ellen Dagoseh said the initiative supports the Government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development and its ambition to create a more productive and resilient private sector.

“The goal is a more inclusive, productive, and resilient private-sector economy where young people and women have real support to start, formalize, and grow businesses that create jobs and wealth,” Dagoseh said.

The distinction between the YEIB-MANCO Technical Assistance Program and conventional entrepreneurship support is important.

Many young entrepreneurs struggle not necessarily because their business ideas lack potential, but because their enterprises are poorly documented, financially disorganized, informally operated or unable to demonstrate sufficient capacity to lenders and investors.

YEIB-MANCO is designed to address precisely that gap.

Chief Executive Officer Joseph Fatorma Sando emphasized that the program is not a cash-grant scheme.

“Our mandate is to make Liberian businesses stronger, more organized, and ready for investment and growth,” Sando said.

“That means hands-on support in business planning, financial management, marketing, record keeping, product development, digitalization, and market access. We’re building businesses that banks and investors can trust.”

This approach could be particularly significant for young entrepreneurs who have ideas and customers but lack the financial records, formal structures, business plans and management systems required to secure institutional financing.

The first cohort will select 50 MSMEs from across Liberia, with the program expected to expand through subsequent cohorts. The official application platform says at least half of the first cohort will come from outside Montserrado County, potentially giving entrepreneurs in rural counties a greater opportunity to participate.

The economic significance of the initiative lies in its attempt to address the supply and demand sides of finance simultaneously.

On one side, financial institutions may be reluctant to lend to young businesses because of perceived risks, limited collateral, weak records and inadequate information. On the other, many entrepreneurs may not yet possess the systems needed to responsibly absorb and repay financing.

Technical assistance can help close that gap.

Business planning can enable entrepreneurs to establish clearer strategies and revenue models. Financial-management training can improve cash-flow control and accountability. Record keeping can provide evidence of business performance. Marketing and product development can help enterprises compete more effectively, while digitalization can improve efficiency and market reach.

Most importantly, investment-readiness coaching can potentially transform a young entrepreneur from someone seeking money into a business owner capable of explaining why an investment should be made.

That is a fundamental shift.

The Technical Assistance Program should also be understood as part of a broader YEIB structure rather than a stand-alone training project.

Liberia became the first country to launch an AfDB-supported Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank in July 2025. The broader initiative combines financial and non-financial instruments, including an early-stage investment fund, technical assistance and credit-guarantee mechanisms.

The AfDB has described the Liberia YEIB as a mechanism intended to strengthen youth entrepreneurship, address unemployment and expand access to finance. The original initiative was designed to support thousands of youth-led businesses, generate employment and mobilize additional private-sector lending over time.

The AfDB’s program documents also envision YEIB-MANCO managing specialized funds and providing enterprise support, risk-sharing and investment functions.

This makes the technical-assistance component particularly important—financing mechanisms can only achieve their intended impact if viable enterprises exist to receive and effectively use the financing.

A Potential Economic Ladder for Young Liberians

For young Liberians, the initiative could create an economic ladder with several stages: business idea → formalization → capacity building → investment readiness → financing → expansion → job creation.

That pathway is particularly relevant in a country where entrepreneurship is often driven by necessity, with many young people entering informal trading and small-scale businesses without access to structured business development support.

The Government’s own development dashboard identifies the YEIB’s objectives as improving equitable access to finance and economic opportunities for youth- and women-led MSMEs, particularly in underserved counties, while strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem and unlocking private capital.

Dr. James Francis Davis, Senior International Consultant of the AfDB, described the launch as significant not only for Liberia but for the wider YEIB initiative in Africa. He said the technical-assistance model is intended to go beyond capacity building by connecting youth-led enterprises with finance and markets while improving the quality of business-development services available to MSMEs.

That connection could determine whether the program produces lasting economic impact.

YEIB-MANCO has specifically encouraged women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs with disabilities to apply, placing inclusion at the center of its stated mission.

This is important because an entrepreneurship program cannot be considered transformative if access remains concentrated among entrepreneurs who are already relatively well connected, formally registered or based in Monrovia.

The official application platform allows entrepreneurs across all 15 counties to apply, and businesses do not necessarily have to be formally registered at the point of application if the entrepreneur is willing to begin the formalization process through the program.

The challenge, therefore, will be ensuring that the initiative reaches entrepreneurs who need assistance most—not merely those already equipped to navigate application processes.

The ultimate test of YEIB-MANCO will not be the number of entrepreneurs trained or certificates issued. It will be whether participating businesses become stronger, increase revenues, secure financing, create jobs and remain operational over time.

If successful, the program could help change the relationship between young Liberians and the financial system—from one characterized by exclusion and informality to one based on credibility, documentation and investment readiness.

That is why the August 28 launch represents more than another entrepreneurship training program.

It is an attempt to build the infrastructure around young entrepreneurs that allows ideas to become viable enterprises and viable enterprises to become employers.

The promise is ultimately simple but consequential for the country’s young population—not merely to prepare them to look for jobs, but to give them the skills, systems and connections needed to build businesses that can create jobs for others.