Mali: supporting job opportunities created by young people

6 min readJan 15, 2020

Sahel is one of the youngest regions in the world: 64.5% of the population is under the age of 25. Investment in education, vocational training and support for young entrepreneurs is a key factor in building a better future. Meetings with young Malian job creators.

To launch his project, Oumar was able to occupy a piece of family-owned wooded land of 3 hectares. 4 people worked with the sweat of their brow to clear an initial 1 hectare of arable land.

Under the scorching late morning sun, Oumar progressed with determination and ease between the vegetable beds, despite his handicap. In his 3-hectare plot on the outskirts of Bamako, he carefully inspected the work done by his workers in preparation for the next harvest. The young onions and tomatoes thrive via an irrigation system connected to a well dug a few metres deep on the edge of his field.

It has been more than a year since Oumar, a young law graduate, decided to change course and start up as a self-employed market gardener. His project was made possible through the support of the EJOM project (youth employment generates local opportunities in Mali), which gave him the basis for business management and financed his business start-up. 8,620 young people are involved in this programme financed in the Malian regions of Koulikoro, Kayes, Gao and the district of Bamako by the European Union, the Republic of Mali and the Netherlands. This project falls within the framework of the Sahel Alliance, which brings together the efforts of the G5 Sahel partners in favour of the Sahelian populations.

A difficult context for youth employment

Every year in Mali, 300,000 young people enter the job market. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2018, 27% of young Malians between the ages of 15 and 24 were unemployed and were neither students nor in training. The ILO also reveals that 61% of workers are self-employed and 64% of the working population are in the agricultural sector.

Oumar has a master’s degree in law and has not found a job after his studies. After several months of hard work, he applied to the EJOM project for support to launch his small market gardening business. He was accepted and started business in November 2018.

“When I imagined the project, my main objective was to become self-sufficient, to take charge of myself and to recruit unemployed young people to create jobs. The first phase of business training gave me the confidence to start my own project. I am currently employing 3 workers” Oumar proudly shares with us.

Thanks to an initial support of 225,000 FCFA (350 €), Oumar bought seeds, inputs, tools and a motor pump to water the fields and cultivate all year round, even in the dry season. This was a tremendous boost that enabled him to harvest vegetables every three months and to sell his production on the markets of Bamako and to several traders.

Transforming fonio to make life easier for housewives

Fatma, a young mother, lives in Sebenikoro, a district of Bamako. With a Master’s degree in Law and a BPS in Marketing, she has completed several training courses but has never found employment as an employee. She went into several businesses but none of them enabled her to make a living. Last year, she had a great idea to make life easier for housewives: to market fonio, a local cereal, cleaned and pre-cooked, ready to use. How could she finance her project? A cousin told her about the EJOM call for projects and she decided to propose her food processing business for funding.

Fatma currently employs 4 people. 3 processing technicians and a delivery driver

“The EJOM project has changed a lot for me. I have learned to adapt my way of working to save energy and money. Before my training I used to buy and sell products without thinking, without calculating. I was also able to improve my technique for processing fonio, as well as the quality and quantity of the products sold,” Fatma told us. “Currently we process at least one ton of fonio per month. During the holiday season and Ramadan, we sell up to four tons. My personal earnings are invested in school fees, food and recreation for my four children”.

A passion for metal

Alou is 35 and lives in Koulikouro. He became interested in the ironwork trade at a very young age. He started learning metalwork in 6th primary

“I used to spend all my school holidays in a workshop in my neighbourhood helping the blacksmith. During my high school studies, I followed the course in the Vocational Training Centre for metal construction, and then I went on to obtain a technical certificate”.

Alou worked for several years as a craftsman in various iron shops, in precarious conditions. In 2018, his dream of becoming his own boss came true

“With the support of EJOM, I was able to open my own workshop. Without finance, I would never have been able to get started! After the business training, I received a financial support of 210,000 FCFA (323 €) which allowed me to buy a grinding wheel, a welder and the raw material to start. I was quickly able to get contracts because I already knew people in the construction industry”.

Alou’s workshop is located in a quiet area of Koulikouro

With the support of EJOM, Alou was also able to open a bank account and formalize his accounting. As the order books filled up, he took on two workers after 6 months of business.

“EJOM has changed my life because I’m now self-employed. I now earn a monthly net profit of 125,000 FCFA (€192), after deducting all my expenses. I’m the eldest in the family and I look after my three younger brothers, my mother, my wife and my child. I’m proud to be able to support my wife’s education as a private university student”.

Youth, a priority for the members of the Sahel Alliance

EJOM is part of a number of programmes funded by the members of the Sahel Alliance in favour of young people. Indeed, so that the G5 Sahel countries can benefit from their demographic dividend, the Sahel Alliance supports the creation of economic opportunities for young people and the improvement of their access to quality education and training suited to market needs. In addition, the Sahel Alliance supports the implementation of a G5 Sahel action plan based on the G5 Sahel youth strategy and which is part of the Priority Investment Programme (PIP).