This case study documents learning from Fondation Zakoura Microcredit's (FZMC, or Zakoura) “Expanding Financial Services to Vulnerable Youth in Morocco,” or LYKOM (which means “for you” in Arabic), project.
The LYKOM objectives are as follows:
- Enhance and extend financial and non-financial services available to youth (15-24) and members of their households in Morocco;
- Develop a system to retain vulnerable youth in a program that prepares them to access appropriate financial services; and
- Foster inter-agency linkages for successful delivery of financial and non-financial services.
Lessons learned include:
- Entrepreneurial skills training is not appreciated by all youth;
- The notion of ‘small enterprises’ and of growing businesses gradually is not well understood;
- Current minimum savings levels at La Poste (post office) may be a barrier to youth savings;
- Parents’ influence is strong, and programs may need to change negative parental attitudes about entrepreneurial activity.
From 2006–2009, Save the Children and Fondation Zakoura Micro-Crédit (Zakoura) partnered to implement a youth financial services and livelihoods promotion project called “Linking Youth with Knowledge and Opportunities in Microfinance,” or LYKOM. The program included financial and business literacy training, savings promotion, and access to credit for youth businesses. This case study examines the challenges Save the Children and Zakoura faced and the ways the institutions sought to address these challenges. This document examines the institutional, local market, and programmatic difficulties encountered, and offers recommendations and lessons learned.
