Like its natural resources of oil and minerals, Africa’s youth are a paradox of (untapped) potential dividends merely existing/constantly being exploited as demographic liabilities. Our vision at WAVE is to reverse this trend by targeting:

1. Best-in-class quality: A new and efficient way to prepare and provide unemployed youths with stable jobs that leverage their innate strengths in an environment where they have previously been shortchanged.

2. Scalability: A home-grown scalable and replicable model for social impact in the region centered on developing people at a systemic level.

3. Systemic impact: An Africa where young people can aspire to achieve their potential and in so doing enhance the development of the African continent.

We will “up-skill” millions of youth to fill stable jobs that transform their incomes thereby driving scalable, replicable and sustainable impact and converting Africa’s youth from demographic liabilities to “demographic dividends”:

1. Scale: By 2019, WAVE aims to train 25,000 youth annually, having cumulatively trained 50,000 youth in marketable skills to reach their true potential and supported them in stable jobs.

2. Income Transformation: On average, WAVE alumni will experience an income transformation of 3-4 times their baseline income (from $2/day to $6-8/day) through placements in frontline hospitality and retail jobs.

3. Economic Development: Ultimately, our simple training and job placement model has the potential to restore dignity and enhance livelihoods for millions of West African youth, thereby restoring the social fabric of the region.