Angola, AfDB and EU Launch $125 Million ‘Crescer’ Project to Accelerate Youth Jobs and Entrepreneurship
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Angola has partnered with the African Development Bank Group and the European Union to roll out a $125 million Youth Employment Project known as the Crescer Project, aimed at expanding youth entrepreneurship and job creation nationwide. The initiative targets the creation of 149,720 jobs, 37,430 direct and about 112,290 indirect, while supporting more than 10,000 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and startups. It also focuses on building skills in key growth sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, transport, and renewable energy.
The project’s financing mix includes $79.08 million in sovereign credit from the African Development Bank, $29.06 million from the Angolan government, and $16.08 million from the European Union. Officials note that the program aligns with Angola Vision 2050 and the National Development Plan (PDN 2023–2027), reinforcing national commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Eugénio Maria Paulo, the Bank’s Executive Director for Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, praised the government’s focus on youth. “By placing young people at the center of national development, the government sends a powerful message that youth will shape Angola’s future,” he said. He added that supporting youth-led MSMEs and startups, particularly along the Lobito Corridor, can stimulate local economies and ease rural to urban migration.
The Crescer Project is structured around demand-driven skills development, business acceleration, and expanded access to finance, supported by reforms to strengthen the enabling environment and institutional capacity. The program aims to train 97,569 young people in digital technologies, climate-smart agriculture, and transport, scale and accelerate 10,400 MSMEs, provide Business Development Services to 385 MSMEs and 97 startups, strengthen 40 business support organizations, and inject up to $15 million to expand access to capital. At least half of all beneficiaries will be women.
The project builds on flagship government programs that promote entrepreneurship and business formalization, including the Program to Support Production, Diversification of Exports and Import Substitution. It complements other African Development Bank initiatives such as the Science and Technology Park, scheduled for completion in November 2025, and scholarship financing for scientific and technological studies up to the doctoral level.
The African Development Bank currently manages 16 active operations in Angola totaling $1.45 billion, spanning energy, water and sanitation, transportation, agriculture, finance, social sectors, and environment. Since 1980, cumulative loans and grants approved for Angola amount to $3.36 billion.
