Skills development and labour market integration: a springboard to full employment

LuxDev helps to improve the entire education-training-employment continuum in almost all the countries where it operates – including in the Sahel – highlighting the strategic importance of this area of intervention. By equipping young people and professionals with skills aligned with labour market needs, the Agency contributes to the emergence of a skilled, competitive workforce capable of supporting local economic development, while also fostering more fulfilling career – and life – pathways.

In Cabo Verde and Rwanda, LuxDev supports the employability and professional integration of young people, women and vulnerable groups by more closely aligning training provision with labour market needs. Two interventions based on a similar approach focus on enhancing vocational and technical education and training through improving the quality and relevance of training programmes, modernising educational infrastructure, providing institutional support and strengthening links with the private sector. In 2025, both initiatives placed particular emphasis on fostering entrepreneurship among young people.

In Cabo Verde, the Support programme for vocational training, employment and employability continued to provide technical and financial support to the Programme to promote young micro-entrepreneurship. Implemented by Pró Empresa and supported by Luxembourg Development Cooperation since 2023, this important initiative facilitates access to finance for young people and supports them in setting up new businesses. In 2025 alone, 2,955 self-employed jobs were created through its mechanisms, which combine training, technical assistance, facilitated access to credit and incubation.

In Rwanda, the Support project to technical training and employability helped in 2025 to foster a spirit of innovation in the technical secondary schools of Muhororo and Cyanika. The introduction of an integrated support scheme – combining capacity building, incubation through entrepreneurship clubs and a competition with associated funding – enabled students to turn their ideas into viable business projects: 25 winning projects, including 17 led by young women, received start-up capital. Based on a learning-by-doing approach, this initiative strengthens the link between vocational training and business creation, while promoting self-employment.

In addition, LuxDev implements several initiatives aimed more specifically at modernising and professionalising the agricultural sector workforce. The projects and programmes deployed in Rwanda, Benin and Latin America share a common ambition: to improve the alignment between training, employment and agricultural entrepreneurship for the benefit of all.

In Rwanda, the Improving skills for holistic employment in modern agriculture project is transforming technical secondary schools into centres of excellence equipped with integrated production units that provide hands-on training. In 2025, the project introduced more than 100 varieties of traditional crops across the three centres of excellence in Gitwe, Mutobo and Kinazi, turning these institutions into active seed multiplication sites. The initial results are promising: 16 varieties have successfully yielded seeds, allowing for local multiplication and distribution to the surrounding communities. This initiative equips learners with the practical skills required by the labour market, reduces dependence on imports and positions TVET schools as key actors in agricultural modernisation and food security.

The Transformation towards sustainable food systems (Kwihaza) project, for its part, contributes to strengthening the profitability of Rwanda’s aquaculture and horticulture value chains by addressing the structural constraints that limit the incomes of small-scale producers and SMEs. Implemented as part of the Team Europe ‘Feeding the Cities’ initiative, it adopts a multi-faceted approach combining capacity building, quality improvement, reduction of post-harvest losses, adoption of climate-smart practices, and support for SMEs. In 2025, a training programme on best aquaculture practices, combining theoretical learning with hands-on, field-based coaching and practical demonstration, helped to develop the technical and entrepreneurial skills of 200 smallholders farmers and 58 SMEs across the value chain. The initiative also led to the development, in collaboration with the Rwanda TVET Board, of an industry-based aquaculture curriculum, in which 45 young people have already enrolled.

In Benin, two complementary interventions aim to structure a training-integration-employment continuum through the creation and modernisation of agricultural technical colleges, the development of short training courses tailored to farmers, enhanced support for entrepreneurship and improved access to finance, while also integrating governance and climate resilience considerations. In 2025, the Support programme to agricultural and rural training reached a significant milestone with the establishment and gradual operationalisation of the Youth Integration Support Fund. Designed as an integrated scheme, this fund combines post-training support, material or financial assistance for the start-up of agricultural or para-agricultural activities, and long-term follow-up. Two hundred and forty young people, who have been enrolled in short vocational training programmes across several agricultural value chains, are expected to benefit from it as early as 2026.

Meanwhile, the Agricultural training and professional integration project in agricultural development pole no. 4 conducted a series of multi-stakeholder participatory workshops to identify the priority skills to be developed across nine high-potential value chains: rice, cassava, yam, soybean, cashew, market gardening, poultry and small ruminants. This process led to the formulation and prioritisation of 95 topics for short training courses and 85 priority themes for certification programmes, thereby strengthening the alignment between training provision and local economic needs.

Finally, the regional Seed generation project, formulated in 2025, aims to enhance the employability and economic opportunities of young people in the Central American Dry Corridor, an area particularly exposed to the effects of climate change and socio-economic vulnerability. Targeting Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras, the project will support its beneficiaries in developing viable agrifood businesses through training schemes tailored to local realities, strengthening technical and innovation skills, and improving access to finance and markets.

Skills development in tourism-related occupations is another key driver of economic value creation. In this area, LuxDev operates in Benin and Laos to professionalise the sector, enhance employability and support sustainable tourism activities.

In Benin, the programme to build the École des métiers de tourisme, de l’hôtellerie et de la restauration (School for tourism, hospitality and catering professions) aims to contribute to economic growth by improving the tourism offer through the development of professional skills. In addition to overseeing the construction and equipping of infrastructure and establishing the institutional governance framework of the school, it seeks to develop an ecotourism programme in the Mono Delta, where remarkable ecosystems and rich local traditions are a major draw. Supported by the Beninese government, the programme promotes the training and labour market integration of young people and women across seven occupations: boatman, tour guide, basket maker, potter, coconut processor, chef-restaurateur, and eco-builder. In 2025, 232 people benefited from training sessions dedicated to these professions, complemented by support in entrepreneurship and technical skills. In addition, 233 micro-entrepreneurs completed training in digital marketing, following which they developed a visual identity as well as eco-friendly communication materials, contributing to their professionalisation and greater commercial visibility. In total, 1,962 coaching sessions were delivered over nine months, reflecting a sustained dynamic of capacity development and skills uptake among beneficiaries.

In line with Laos’ national priorities, the Skills for tourism, agriculture and forestry (STAF) programme focuses on two labour-intensive sectors with strong economic potential. Co-financed by Luxembourg, Switzerland and the European Union, it aims to enhance employability, particularly among young people and women, by improving the quality, relevance and accessibility of vocational skills development services. In 2025, more than 4,900 people enrolled in training courses supported by the programme, while 187 teachers and trainers benefited from continuing professional development. Among them, 75 undertook specialised training in Vietnamese cuisine, bakery, barista skills and bartending, delivered by experienced trainers from Hue Tourism College (Vietnam) as part of a South-South cooperation initiative supported by the STAF programme. By investing in teacher training, the programme ensures that the skills acquired are passed on to hundreds of learners nationwide, thereby contributing to the overall improvement of the quality of education in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
 

Beyond technical and vocational education and training, LuxDev also harnesses the potential of higher education and research to support development.

In Kosovo, the Skills for sustainable jobs project aims to improve the employability of young people and women by providing training aligned with labour market needs, especially in fast-growing fields such as ICT, renewable energy and energy efficiency. While strengthening links between the private sector and vocational education and training institutions is a central focus of the intervention, the project also pays particular attention to the development of research skills. Consequently, in 2025, it facilitated student mobility for master’s thesis research at the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). From March to June, three master’s students and three doctoral candidates from the University of Pristina were thus integrated into a high-level research environment. They acquired advanced skills in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, FinTech and post-quantum cryptography, and significantly enhanced their academic and professional profiles. All the master’s students successfully defended their theses and secured qualified employment, while one participant went on to pursue a PhD at SnT. In the long term, the skills acquired will be reinvested within the University of Pristina, contributing to the emergence of a pool of researchers capable of supporting the country’s digital transformation and its integration into the global knowledge economy.

Also in 2025, LuxDev formulated the second phase of this project. Running from 2026 to 2030, it will aim to consolidate achievements by improving the alignment between vocational training and higher education on the one hand, and private sector needs on the other, in order to sustainably support employability, innovation and economic growth in Kosovo.

At the same time, the Agency supports applied research initiatives with regional and international reach.

The project SnT4Dev in West Africa, implemented in partnership with SnT, strengthens the scientific and technological capacities of universities in Senegal and Benin by promoting the co-creation of research projects between African and Luxembourgish researchers, in line with local priorities. For its part, the LuxAid BRIDGES programme, developed jointly with the National Research Fund, mobilises Luxembourg’s scientific community to support research projects addressing development cooperation and humanitarian aid challenges, in close collaboration with stakeholders from the Global South.