Recording of the second day of the online AEIP workshop « Social Innovation Lab: Solving SDGs Through Youth Entrepreneurship » (8 October 2026).

The Africa-Europe Innovation Platform (AEIP), through The Youth Cafe, in collaboration with Youth Ideation, Inspiration and Impact (YI3), is hosting the Social Innovation Lab, a two-day co-creation online workshop bringing together young entrepreneurs, innovators, youth-led startups, and SMEs from across Africa and Europe. The Lab will explore how youth-led social innovation can advance SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), with a deliberate focus on young women entrepreneurs and inclusive innovation ecosystems.

Overview

The second day of “Social Innovation Lab – Solving SDGs Through Youth Entrepreneurship” focuses on collaborative approaches to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality and Goal 9 on Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

Building on the barriers and opportunities explored on Day One, the session brings together young innovators, youth organisations and entrepreneurship supporters to share practical models and develop ideas. Presentations include the AU-EU Youth Voices Lab mobile app and examples from ChildFund Alliance’s work supporting youth skills development and social entrepreneurship.

Through participant pitches and discussion, the workshop examines how digital platforms, mentorship, finance and community partnerships can help young people turn ideas into action. Particular attention is given to meaningful gender inclusion, ensuring that young women have decision-making authority and sustained support throughout their entrepreneurial journeys.

What You Will Learn

The workshop covers:

• Collaborative solution development: bringing together different experiences and perspectives to develop youth-led responses to challenges linked to SDGs 5 and 9.
• Connected barriers to entrepreneurship: understanding how gaps in finance, skills, networks and digital access interact, particularly for young women and underserved communities.
• Youth-led digital platforms: exploring how the AU-EU Youth Voices Lab app connects learning resources, peer networks, mentorship and entrepreneurship opportunities.
• Accessible digital engagement: considering multilingual content, low-data approaches and downloadable resources when supporting young people with limited connectivity.
• Comprehensive entrepreneurship support: combining technical and transferable skills with mentoring, career guidance and psychosocial support to strengthen young people’s readiness.
• Gender-responsive enterprise development: examining how tailored mentorship, community funding and local partnerships can support young women’s economic participation.
• School-based social entrepreneurship: using practical enterprise activities to help young people develop products and services, engage with markets and build leadership skills.
• Meaningful participation and leadership: ensuring women have authority, influence and decision-making responsibilities within organisations and programmes.
• Bias in funding and pitching: recognising how assumptions and selection practices can affect access to resources, and considering more equitable support approaches.
• SDG-aligned idea development: connecting proposed solutions to specific challenges and intended outcomes to clarify their contribution to sustainable development.
• Community-driven innovation: learning from participant ideas involving digital education, rural infrastructure, climate-resilient agriculture and waste-to-wealth solutions.
• Practical planning and continued collaboration: using resources such as the Youth Innovation Playbook to assess challenges, identify capacities and select actionable next steps.

Key Takeaway

Effective support for youth entrepreneurship combines opportunities to learn and connect with the resources and authority needed to act. For young women, meaningful inclusion requires influence over decisions, equitable access to finance and sustained support that addresses structural barriers.

Digital platforms, experiential learning and community partnerships can help create these conditions. By co-developing solutions, testing their relevance and building supportive networks, young innovators can strengthen their ideas and contribute to gender equality and inclusive innovation.