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AU-EU Youth Action Lab Entrepreneurship Grant 2026

Picture of Ugo Chinedu
AU-EU Youth Action Lab

 

African youth organisations and social enterprises seeking to expand their impactful initiatives can now access a significant opportunity via the AU-EU Youth Action Lab’s Entrepreneurship Grants 2026.

Read more about Opportunities

The AU-EU Youth Action Lab provides youth-led organisations that blend social or environmental objectives with viable business models with financial resources, coaching, and development assistance to expand their reach.

The grant holds particular value for youth-driven groups engaged in social entrepreneurship, community development, or green/environmental initiatives, offering them genuine prospects for expansion, long-term viability, and intercontinental visibility.

Grant Benefits

  • Financial support ranging from €30,000 to €50,000 for expanding your youth-driven social enterprise.
  • Coaching and development assistance are designed to enhance organisational and financial capabilities.
  • Access to networking platforms connecting organisations across Africa and Europe, creating opportunities for partnerships, visibility, and future joint ventures.
  • Membership in a network of youth-driven organisations focused on social/environmental impact through viable business frameworks.

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Eligibility Requirements

Qualifying organisations or social enterprises must:

  • Be youth-driven: Key decision-makers and primary personnel should fall within the 18–35 age range.
  • Hold legal registration in one of these 12 qualifying African nations: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia (Somaliland), Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, or Zimbabwe.
  • Function as a non-profit / NGO / CBO / Cooperative / Social Enterprise with a defined social or environmental objective — excluding purely commercial businesses.
  • Have maintained operations for no less than 12 months, possessing formal governance frameworks, banking facilities, and demonstrable revenue-generating activities or financial sustainability.
  • Show verifiable social or environmental outcomes, including youth employment creation, community service provision, environmental benefits, service affordability, or livelihood enhancement.

Purely commercial SMEs lacking explicit social objectives or donor-dependent NGOs without entrepreneurial components do not qualify for this opportunity.

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Grant Priority Areas

The 2026 application cycle emphasises the “responsible growth of youth-led social enterprises” — meaning ventures with social/environmental purposes coupled with sustainable, revenue-producing business frameworks.

Eligible projects may encompass social enterprises operating in sectors like education, climate action, health, environmental sustainability, youth employment, community development — essentially any venture merging mission-driven work with commercial sustainability.

Submission deadline: 7 January 2026 for Entrepreneurship (along with Innovation / Representation) grants.

Funding period: Projects receiving Entrepreneurship Grants operate on a 12-month timeline.

Click HERE to apply.

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