Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) for the Informal Economy

This interim report evaluates the Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) pilot project, which provided cash grants and smartphones to 1,035 youth (aged 18-35) in the Mathare slum of Nairobi. The project tested two payment models: lump sums of ~$1,200 and monthly payments of ~$50. Initial findings indicate that cash transfers are feasible in urban slum environments and effectively encourage entrepreneurial behavior, with a significant shift from casual labor to self-employment. While pre-installed business apps saw low engagement, general internet and social media access via smartphones significantly aided market access and skill acquisition. The report also highlights gender-based differences in spending and saving, and the continued importance of informal saving groups alongside mobile money services.

• Transferring significant cash grants and smartphones to urban youth in low-income slum environments is operationally feasible, with no evidence that the project increased fraud, violence, or insecurity.
• The project has driven a marked shift in economic activity from casual labor toward self-employment, with the proportion of youth reporting their primary activity as 'working for self' increasing from 37% to 64%.
• Recipients invested approximately 31% of their transfers into new or existing businesses, including agricultural investments such as livestock managed via family in rural areas.
• Financial wellbeing improved for the majority of participants: over 75% reported an increase in income beyond the grant, and the proportion of youth able to meet their needs rose from 29% to 80%.
• While pre-installed apps like Touch Doh had very low utilization, smartphones provided critical access to the internet and social media (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook) for marketing goods and accessing business knowledge.
• Mobile money is the primary tool for managing transfers, but there is a strong unmet demand for 'locked' accounts or compartmentalization features to prevent impulse spending.
• Gender significantly influences spending and saving: men invest more in productive assets and housing, while women spend more on education and save a higher proportion of their transfers.
• Men are more likely to use digital platforms for saving and credit, whereas women continue to favor informal groups as their primary source of savings and credit.
• Lump-sum (LS) recipients showed higher productive investment rates (33.5%) compared to monthly payment (MP) recipients (27.9%) and reported higher average savings (Ksh 24,000 vs Ksh 12,000).
• Monthly payment recipients spend a larger proportion of their grants on recurrent daily costs such as food, housing, and health compared to lump-sum recipients.

APA

Fitzgibbon, C. (2019). Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) for the Informal Economy. FSD Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/YEG-Pilot-Project-Interim-Report-FINAL-2019.pdf

Chicago

Fitzgibbon, Catherine. Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) for the Informal Economy. FSD Africa, 2019. https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/YEG-Pilot-Project-Interim-Report-FINAL-2019.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fitzgibbon |first1=Catherine |title=Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) for the Informal Economy |publisher=FSD Africa |date=November 2019 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/YEG-Pilot-Project-Interim-Report-FINAL-2019.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fitzgibbon2019youth, author = {Fitzgibbon, Catherine}, title = {{Youth Enterprise Grants (YEG) for the Informal Economy}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/YEG-Pilot-Project-Interim-Report-FINAL-2019.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }