In 2010, UNCDF in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation launched the YS programme, Building Youth Inclusive Financial Sectors in Sub‐Saharan Africa, as a regional pilot. This innovative programme has worked with 10 partner FSPs in eight countries in subSaharan Africa, granted access to financial services to over 450,000 young people (of which 45 percent are young women), and trained almost 4350,000 youth in financial education (46 percent young women). Youth that have opened savings accounts with YS partners have accumulated over $12.9 million in savings and accessed over $6.1 million in loans.

Early findings from research conducted by the regional pilot access financial services (eg. savings, loans etc) in order to open their own business or to reduce risks associated with the transitions that youth undergo (eg. dropping out of school).

UNCDF has learned from the different approaches in which financial inclusion can help address the youth employment challenge through the regional pilot. In particular, UNCDF gained a deeper understanding of:

1. the types of financial services that best meet the needs of youth according to their socioeconomic context and developmental stages.
2. the types of financial services that can best mitigate the risk of lending to youth.
3. the business models that FSPs can use to deliver financial education to youth.
4. the business case for YFS.
5. the types of trainings and tools necessary for FSPs to gain a better understanding of the youth market.
6. the changes needed in the policy and regulatory environment to increase access to financial services for youth.