The World Bank has approved a new regional program intended to connect education, skills training, and employment for young people in Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea.
The program is called SIRA, short for Skills for Innovation, Resilience, and Aspirations. Its first phase has $642 million in financing and is expected to reach 5.4 million young people, with particular attention to young women and people who are out of school. The approval happened on June 23, 2026.
That is a large number, but it is not a promise of 5.4 million immediate jobs. SIRA is a multi-year effort to improve the systems that connect people to work: secondary schools, technical and vocational training, certification, employer links, job placement, and support for self-employment.
For job seekers, the important question is not whether a regional program exists. It is how its country-level projects turn into real training places, apprenticeships, qualifications, and vacancies.
Why this matters now
Western and Central Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. The World Bank says that about six million young people enter the region’s labor market every year.
That does not mean six million formal jobs become available each year. Many young people move between informal work, family businesses, unpaid work, short courses, and job searches. A qualification may not match the skills employers ask for. Employers, meanwhile, may struggle to find applicants with the specific technical, digital, or workplace skills they need.
SIRA is designed around that gap. Its stated aim is to make secondary education and skills training more relevant to work, then make it easier for young people to move from training into productive employment.
The program will focus on sectors with potential for growth, including energy, health care, agribusiness, manufacturing, tourism, and digital work. That is useful for students deciding what to study, as well as for graduates whose general qualification has not yet produced a clear route into work.
One regional program, three different starting points
SIRA is a regional framework, but the first phase does not give each country the same task.
Cabo Verde: certification and employment opportunities
In Cabo Verde, the project is tied to the Creating Opportunities and Reaching Results on Employment program. It is expected to support young people aged 15 to 35 through better learning outcomes, certification, employment opportunities in growth sectors, and more productive self-employment.
The World Bank estimates that about 50,000 young women and men could benefit in Cabo Verde. For an applicant, the practical value will depend on what becomes available locally: a vocational course with a recognized certificate, an employer placement, help starting a viable business, or another route.
Côte d’Ivoire: connecting education and the labor market
In Côte d’Ivoire, SIRA is expected to improve outcomes for more than 900,000 young people and support the country’s National Development Plan for 2026 to 2030.
The emphasis is on links between vocational and tertiary education, employer demand, and priority sectors. That matters because a degree or certificate alone is not always enough. A course is more valuable when it includes recognized skills, work experience, an employer network, or a qualification that employers understand.
Guinea: secondary education, technical training, and diversification
In Guinea, SIRA is expected to modernize secondary education and expand technical and vocational training in areas including agribusiness, energy, and digital work. It is also intended to support entrepreneurship and job placement.
The public project documents describe a wider goal: helping young people in and out of school, including those at risk of dropping out, access more relevant education and skills pathways. This matters for young people who do not follow a straight route from school to university and then into a formal job.
What SIRA is likely to change first
Programs of this scale usually do not begin with a single regional application form. The early work tends to be less visible: agreements between ministries and training providers, curriculum changes, employer partnerships, selection rules, local delivery plans, and new reporting systems.
The first opportunities may therefore look different in each country. They could include:
- Technical or vocational courses linked to a priority sector.
- Certification opportunities for people with skills but no formal proof of them.
- Apprenticeships, internships, or employer-led work placements.
- Job-matching and career-guidance services.
- Support for viable self-employment and small businesses.
None of those opportunities should be assumed to be open yet. The World Bank announcement confirms the financing and intended direction, not an active list of vacancies or training places.
What young job seekers should do now
Waiting for a program to become visible is not the best preparation. The useful work begins before applications open.
Follow official country channels
Watch the employment, education, vocational-training, and youth ministries in your country, along with public employment services and established technical-training institutions. When SIRA-backed opportunities are announced, those channels are more reliable than forwarded messages or recruiters asking for a fee.
Check whether an announcement identifies the implementing organization, eligibility criteria, application deadline, location, and whether the training or placement is free. If it does not, treat it as incomplete information rather than a job offer.
Keep a simple evidence file
Many training and employment programs require versions of the same documents: an identity document, school records, certificates, a CV, proof of residence, and sometimes references or a short statement of interest.
Put accurate digital copies in one folder. If a document is in another language, find out whether a translation will be required before paying for one. Do not alter dates, grades, or certificates. A missing document can often be replaced; a false document can end an application and create a longer problem.
Look for the skills underneath the job title
The sector labels in the announcement are broad. “Energy” could mean electrical installation, safety, solar maintenance, logistics, sales, administration, or data work. “Tourism” could involve food service, languages, reservations, maintenance, customer support, and management.
Read current local job adverts in a sector you are considering. Make a short list of the skills that appear repeatedly. That list is more useful than guessing what a large program may eventually offer.
Ask providers about outcomes, not only enrollment
When a course, placement, or youth-employment initiative appears, ask four direct questions:
- What qualification or certificate will I receive?
- Who recognizes it: employers, a government body, or a professional regulator?
- Is work experience included, and who arranges it?
- What happened to the previous group of participants?
The answers will not guarantee a job. They do help separate a pathway with employer links from a course that only promises a certificate.
A policy announcement is not a recruitment offer
Large employment programs attract scams because the names, logos, and funding figures sound official. A genuine opportunity should not require an unofficial payment to “secure” a place, a job, a visa, or a certificate.
Use the official website of a government ministry, public employment service, accredited training provider, or named project partner to verify any link. Be cautious if a message asks you to send an ID or bank details through a personal messaging account. If the program is advertised as paid employment, check the contract, pay, working hours, and employer name before accepting it.
The test will be what happens locally
SIRA is meaningful because it is trying to address a problem that many young people know well: education, training, and jobs often operate as separate systems.
Its success will not be measured by the financing announcement alone. The real test is whether people in Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea gain access to training they can complete, qualifications employers trust, fair entry points to work, and clear ways to move forward after a placement ends.
For now, the most useful response is to track official country-level announcements, prepare documents, and evaluate any new program by its actual route into recognized skills and paid work.