Youth and Social Enterprise Fund

Youth and Social Enterprise Fund (Y-SEF) is an NGO registered in 2000. The NGO was formed to meet the needs of the socially and economically deprived in our communities as a first step to addressing their socio-economic empowerment needs. Y-SEF’s mission is to support the development of local enterprise capacity especially young entrepreneurs and other marginalized groups and communities, by facilitating access to microfinance and other development services, including training, networking and advocacy for socio-economic investments that lead to sustained empowerment. The vision is to empower communities and transform lives. The NGO’s expertise span water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); entrepreneurship development; micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development – youth and women-focused enterprises; microfinancing; community consultative processes facilitation for social, economic and financial inclusion; community/group animation and mobilization, action research. Some of its innovations are the design and implementation of a blended water and sanitation (WATSAN) fund for households and businesses in the water and sanitation sector, Youth Enterprise Fund (YEF) that provides financing for youth-run businesses and Productive Banking (PB) for productive poor and women micro-small entrepreneurs. Y-SEF has also consulted for and or / implemented projects in collaboration with World Bank, Ghana Women Fund Company Limited (GWF), Financieros sin Fronteras (FsF), Cabildo do Cordoba, UNICEF, Academy for Educational Development (AED)/Futures Group, Tenda dei Popoli, Amicus Onlus Ghana, Global Communities (formerly CHF International); AmeriCares Foundation; Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Ghana; Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Ghana; Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Ghana; Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Ghana, among others.