Partners: Mastercard Foundation; Kosmos Innovation Centre; Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology; Soronko Academy; Industry Immersion Africa; Ipsos Nigeria
Period: April 2025 – December 2025
Country of operation: Ghana
Category: Employment, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Education & Literacy, Evidence Generation (MERL), Youth Welfare
Project Snapshot
Under its Young Africa Works Strategy, the Mastercard Foundation aims to enable young people (15–35), particularly young women (70% target), to access dignified and fulfilling work (DFW) by 2030.
In Ghana’s Digital Economy Sector, the Foundation partnered with four innovation organizations to deliver targeted programs that combined digital skills training, startup incubation, SME acceleration, internships, catalytic funding, and job placement support.
The four programs included:
Scaling Jobs for Women through Technology (SJFWT) – Digital inclusion and employment pathways for young women.
Initiative for Youth in Agricultural Transformation (IYAT) – Agritech innovation and enterprise development.
Scaling MEST Programs – Digital talent development and startup ecosystem strengthening.
Ghana1000 (Deployment for STEM Graduate Employability) – Advanced digital skills and graduate employability pathways.
Collectively, these programs supported thousands of young people across Ghana to access employment, entrepreneurship, and digital work opportunities.
As the Regional Impact Partner Organisation (ReIPO) for Anglophone West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria), PDA—working alongside Ipsos Nigeria—led the Digital Economy Thematic Review in Ghana.
Project Objectives
Main Goal:
Assess the relevance, efficiency, sustainability, and impact of four Digital Economy programs in enabling youth access to dignified and fulfilling work.
Specific Objectives:
- Examine how the programs contributed to youth transitions into employment and entrepreneurship.
- Assess alignment with Ghana’s national development priorities and the Young Africa Works strategy.
- Analyze sustainability of youth-led enterprises and systemic barriers within the digital economy ecosystem.
- Apply a Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) lens to assess inclusiveness and equity outcomes.
- Generate actionable learning to strengthen future program design and implementation.
PDA’s Task
PDA led the Digital Economy (DE) Thematic Review in Ghana, with remote technical input from Ipsos Nigeria.
Our role included:
- Designing and implementing a mixed-methods evaluation approach.
- Leading nationwide quantitative and qualitative data collection.
- Conducting enterprise sustainability and ecosystem analysis.
- Developing program-specific and cross-cutting thematic reports.
- Producing evidence-based impact stories grounded in beneficiary voices.
- Facilitating a stakeholder sensemaking workshop to validate findings.
How We Are Going About It
PDA implemented a mixed-methods evaluation combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess the effectiveness and impact of the four Digital Economy programs.
We conducted nationwide structured surveys with 1,051 young people and 225 enterprise owners across all 16 regions of Ghana. This was complemented by in-depth interviews and key informant engagements with youth, enterprise owners, household members, community leaders, implementing partners, and ecosystem stakeholders to capture diverse perspectives on employment transitions and enterprise sustainability.
Using a strong Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) lens, the team analyzed youth employment outcomes, enterprise growth, policy alignment, and systemic factors influencing access to dignified and fulfilling work.
Findings were synthesized into program-level and cross-cutting reports, validated through a stakeholder sensemaking workshop, and complemented by evidence-based impact stories that elevated the voices and lived experiences of participating young people.