THE Small Business Bureau (SBB), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has officially launched the 2026 edition of its Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP), an initiative aimed at fostering innovation and business skills among secondary school students across Guyana.
The programme began with a teacher orientation and business plan development workshop held at the Bureau’s Head Office, where 26 educators were trained to guide students through the process of developing structured and practical business proposals.
This training component is designed to ensure that participating students receive hands-on mentorship from their teachers while conceptualising viable business ideas and translating them into detailed business plans for evaluation.
Under the programme, students are required to develop business concepts that demonstrate both practicality and scalability. The most promising proposals will be selected to receive monetary awards, with 60 students from 12 secondary schools set to benefit during the 2026 cycle.
In addition to financial incentives, participants will also receive training in key areas such as entrepreneurship, marketing, and financial management. The initiative aims to equip young people with the knowledge, confidence, and discipline required to build sustainable ventures and pursue opportunities within Guyana’s evolving economy.
Since its launch in 2020, the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme has recognised and rewarded 150 students from 39 secondary schools nationwide. Over the past six years, more than $8 million has been distributed to support innovative and practical student-led business plans.
Female participation in the programme has been particularly strong, with 108 young women among the beneficiaries to date, highlighting the growing interest and creativity among young women in the field of entrepreneurship.
Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Bureau, Mohamed Shazim Ibrahim, underscored the broader national significance of the initiative.
“Entrepreneurship is a critical pillar of Guyana’s economic future. Through YEP, we are not only providing monetary awards to students, we are nurturing innovation, discipline, and self-reliance at an early stage. This programme reflects the Government’s sustained commitment to developing a culture of entrepreneurship and equipping young people with the tools to create their own opportunities,” Ibrahim said.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Programme forms part of the Government’s wider agenda to promote enterprise development, economic empowerment and innovation across all regions of Guyana.
Through sustained investment in youth entrepreneurship initiatives such as YEP, the Government continues to lay the groundwork for a more diversified, resilient and inclusive national economy.
