Project Title: Empowering Women and Youth with sustainable livelihoods Through Commercial Transportation

Project Location: Nationwide

Project Duration: January 2024 – December 2028

Overview:

The Empowering Women and Youth Through Sustainable Livelihoods in Commercial Transportation project is a transformative national initiative designed to expand economic opportunities for marginalized youth—particularly women—through structured participation in the commercial transport sector.

The project supports the Government’s human capital development agenda by creating sustainable jobs, promoting entrepreneurship, and strengthening financial independence among young people. It combines skills training, access to finance, and green mobility solutions to deliver inclusive and long-term socio-economic impact.

Project Objective(s):

Overall Objective(s):

To contribute to national human capital development by enhancing job creation for socially and economically deprived, and marginalized youth across the country.

Project Specific Objectives

• To promote youth economic livelihood through sustainable income generation in the commercial transport sector
• Support the reduction of carbon paths by promoting the use of highbred vehicles and tricycles (kekeh)
• Provide middle class transportation that contributes to decongesting the central business district (CBD) area.
• To enhance social inclusion and equal opportunities for women and youth
• Build capacity of beneficiaries in managing and maintaining vehicles and tricycles (kekeh), while increasing their competencies in business and financial management.

Project Components/Brief Description

1. Job Creation and Entrepreneurship:

• Pilot 2025; Training for 200 female youth
• Scale up (2026-2028); Training for 2,000 youth (1,400 male and 600 female)

2. Access to Finance

• Subsidized loans for purchasing energy-efficient vehicles and tricycles (kekeh)
• Structured as a revolving loan scheme

3. Capacity Building

• Business development skills
• Financial management
• Vehicle maintenance and operations

4. Loan Recovery & Monitoring

• Dedicated Loan Recovery Officers (LROs)
• Weekly repayment tracking and financial accountability

5. Monitoring & Evaluation

• Continuous tracking of performance, outcomes, and impact
• Loan Recovery /Monitoring  
• Highbred Vehicles and Tricycles (Kekeh):Subsidized loans for purchasing energy-efficient, reduced carbon emission vehicles.
• Monitoring & Evaluation:  Regular monitoring and evaluation to track progress and impact.

Beneficiaries

Direct Beneficiaries:

• Overall, 2000 youth (1260 male and 840 female) especially illiterate and semi-illiterate previously working in existing car wash centres will benefit nationwide.

Indirect Beneficiaries:

• It is assumed that each of the 2000 direct beneficiaries will have on average 5 dependents each, totaling 10,000 indirect beneficiaries.
• Users of Motorcycles and Vehicle/Tricycle ‘kekeh’ as means of transportation

Alignment with Government National Development Objective:

Big 5.3 Youth Employment Scheme, serves as a catalyst for democratic sustainability, economic productivity and national security aimed at supplying 500,000 jobs for youths in the next five to seven years

Alignment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

Sustainable Development Goal 8 as it seeks to empower young people with the requisite skills for them to be employable.

Gender Impact:

The project will engage both male and female youth depending on the interest and willingness displayed during the sensitization and identification stages of the project beneficiaries Youth with minimal levels of disabilities will also be engaged in appropriate capacities.

Environmental Impact and Resettlement Needs:

 Environmental Impact:

Contamination of surface waters may arise from the use of washing detergents which will eventually drain to surrounding streams and rivers. To mitigate this, a discharging point called a sanitary sewer will be created to collect all discharge waste from the washing shed and ensure proper disposal.

Some detergents contain harmful chemicals that degrade water quality especially when the soapy water is mixed with the grime, dirt, and grease removed from vehicles. To avert this problem mild soap will be used in car wash centres

Similarly, the project will negatively result in the emission of Carbon Monoxide from the Vehicle/Tricycle (Kekeh) used: The Ministry will liaise with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to embark on awareness raising and planting of trees for capturing the release of carbon monoxide if ever.

Resettlement Need:

N/A

Project Sustainability:

The Youth in Commercial Transport component of the Car Wash Project is designed to be a revolving loan scheme. The revolving loan scheme will ensure that youth groups pay back every month an agreed percentage of their monthly earnings to the Ministry of Youth Affairs. The Project would assign Loan Recovery Officers (LROs) who would be responsible for collecting weekly earnings from the project. The LROs will issue receipts to youth group(s) who pay up and maintain a balanced Cash Book and Bank Statement. The loan repayment will enable the Ministry of Youth Affairs to replicate the project in other areas of the Country, thereby expanding the project to reach other vulnerable young people over some time.