Access Bank has announced a strategic partnership with The King’s Trust, the United Kingdom-based youth charity founded by King Charles III, to equip young Africans with entrepreneurial and employability skills, marking a significant expansion of the bank’s corporate social investment footprint across the continent. The collaboration, formalised in Lagos on Thursday, will leverage The King’s Trust’s proven enterprise and employability frameworks to support youth development programmes in Nigeria and other African markets where Access Bank operates .
Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director of Access Bank, said the partnership aligns with the bank’s long-standing commitment to youth empowerment and economic inclusion. “We believe that investing in young people is not just a social responsibility but a strategic imperative for sustainable economic growth. By combining our reach with The King’s Trust’s expertise, we can create meaningful pathways for young Africans to build livelihoods and contribute to the continent’s development,” he said .
The King’s Trust, formerly known as The Prince’s Trust, has operated for nearly five decades, helping over a million young people across the UK to develop confidence, skills, and business acumen. The charity’s international arm has increasingly focused on expanding its model to Africa, recognising the continent’s youthful demographic profile and the urgent need for scalable solutions to youth unemployment. The partnership with Access Bank represents one of its most significant commitments to the region to date .
Will Straw, Chief Executive of The King’s Trust International, described the collaboration as a pivotal step in the charity’s Africa strategy. “Young people across Africa have enormous potential, but too often face barriers to accessing the opportunities they need to thrive. Access Bank’s extensive network and deep understanding of local markets make them an ideal partner to help us deliver our programmes at scale. Together, we can support thousands of young people to start businesses, find jobs, and build brighter futures,” he said .
The partnership will initially focus on enterprise and employability programmes tailored to local contexts. Under the agreement, The King’s Trust will provide its established curriculum and training methodologies, while Access Bank will facilitate outreach, participant recruitment, and access to banking services that can help young entrepreneurs formalise their businesses. The programmes will target young people aged 18 to 35, a demographic that accounts for more than 60 per cent of Africa’s population but faces unemployment rates significantly higher than the continental average .
The initiative arrives at a critical juncture for African economies confronting persistent job creation challenges. According to the African Development Bank, the continent creates approximately 10 to 12 million new jobs annually, but this remains insufficient to absorb the 20 to 30 million young people entering the workforce each year. Programmes that combine skills training with financial inclusion are increasingly viewed as essential to bridging this gap, particularly in informal sectors where most employment is generated .
Access Bank’s involvement extends the bank’s existing youth-focused initiatives, which include enterprise development schemes, financial literacy programmes, and support for young agripreneurs. The partnership with The King’s Trust adds an international dimension to these efforts, bringing globally tested methodologies to local implementation. For Access Bank, which has pursued aggressive expansion across Africa in recent years, the collaboration also reinforces its positioning as a socially responsible institution committed to community development .
The King’s Trust has previously piloted programmes in several African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, with early results indicating positive outcomes in participant confidence, business sustainability, and job placement rates. The Access Bank partnership is expected to significantly scale these efforts, with plans to reach thousands of young people across multiple countries in the first phase of implementation .
For policymakers and development partners, public-private partnerships of this nature offer models for addressing youth unemployment that complement government programmes. By combining the operational reach of a major financial institution with the specialised expertise of an international charity, the initiative demonstrates how cross-sector collaboration can deliver impact at scale. The emphasis on entrepreneurship also aligns with broader economic diversification objectives, supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises that are critical to job creation .
As the partnership moves toward implementation, attention will focus on programme design, participant selection, and the mechanisms for tracking outcomes. The King’s Trust’s experience in monitoring and evaluation, combined with Access Bank’s local knowledge, positions the initiative to generate insights that could inform future youth empowerment efforts across the continent. With Africa’s youth population projected to continue growing over the coming decades, scalable solutions that bridge the gap between potential and opportunity remain an urgent priority.
