After decades of civil war, violent extremism and recent widespread famine caused by droughts, Somalia’s youth face numerous hardships in accessing better opportunities. To improve access to jobs, SPARK has helped create a mandatory, national internship policy in Somaliland that ensures all students gain real work experience prior to graduation. We also work to improve entrepreneurship education by developing entrepreneurship modules for higher education institutes. Similarly, we counter high unemployment rates by supporting new entrepreneurs to establish businesses and grow existing small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Programmes in this location
-
active programme
Local Employment in Africa for Development (LEAD)
By developing business ideas, providing training and coaching, and supporting access to finance, LEAD establishes new businesses in Libya, Tunisia…
-
active programme
Tadamon
The Tadamon programme, supported by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) aims to contribute to the immediate and medium-term efforts to…

Shaam Factory produces unique tiles for homes and pavements. Over ten years, the firm has grown to 15 staff and reaches different markets across Somaliland. The team, including Abdikarim, recently received customer care training from SPARK, which boosted their business. Now, Abdikarim gives customer care trainings to all new staff.
Opening pathways to employment
-
3,357Youth Trained
-
1,220MSMEs Supported
-
2,833Jobs Created
-
264Businesses Created