YECSI Incubate Better — UNCDF-Backed Capacity Building for a Youth-Led Incubator in Solomon Islands

The Young Entrepreneurs Council Solomon Islands (YECSI) was founded in 2017, working with the national government and the Chamber of Commerce to promote entrepreneurship as a response to youth unemployment. In 2022–2023, YECSI was one of three Pacific incubators selected for Phase 2 of Incubate Better, a capacity-building programme run by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) with implementation partner ygap, after an earlier Phase 1 trained representatives from 20 incubation programme providers across the Pacific.

YECSI received a first grant tranche of US$7,000 for board and secretariat training and a strategy retreat, followed by six months of in-person coaching, and a second tranche of US$8,000 in early 2024 to improve its own curriculum. The programme used tools such as the Vision Traction Template and SCALE assessment, and connected YECSI with the International Labour Organization. Reported outcomes are organisational rather than economic: clearer roles, a defined focus on aspiring entrepreneurs, and three strategic pillars (Youth Engagement, Membership & Services, Advocacy).

The programme itself documents a real limitation — staff turnover during the coaching period forced UNCDF and ygap to adjust the support to onboard new leadership — and total funding was modest (US$15,000). This is capacity-building for an incubator, not yet evidence that the incubator is producing more or better-supported founders; the catalogue scores it accordingly as a small, honestly-reported, donor-funded governance intervention rather than a proven growth engine.

Read the full analysis: https://www.uncdf.org/article/8774/empowering-youth-entrepreneurs-yecsis-incubate-better