BEAM Grab the Mic webinar
Date: 29 April 2025
Speakers
Rose Blidi Kansuah, Program Manager, Mercy Corps, Liberia
Robert Gwee Walker, Senior System Officer, Mercy Corps, Liberia
Watch the webinar
Young people in Liberia are building businesses without relying on handout-based support. This webinar demonstrated how the PROSPECT IV programme's simple credit model is helping them access goods, grow income and take charge of their futures in the consumer goods retail sector.
It explored key lessons from the rollout of a Stock on Credit model - an approach that enables young entrepreneurs to access consumer goods on credit, rather than relying on cash-based start-up capital. By applying the Market Systems Development for Employment (MSD4E) approach, the initiative supports youth-led MSMEs with sustainable, market-driven solutions that promote enterprise growth and self-employment.
Participants gained insights from the Stock on Credit pilot phase, where 132 young people received in-kind credit totalling USD $46,000 - with 75 per cent already repaid - resulting in a $14,000 boost in youth income. Each youth earns an average of $100/month - above Liberia’s minimum wage.
The model’s early success has attracted interest from new consumer goods partners and telecom companies, showing strong potential for scale.
Key topics:
- Target group segmentation: why understanding youth segments matters for designing inclusive, high-impact solutions.
- Business model: how in-kind credit, business development support, and supplier partnerships enable youth to thrive as consumer goods distributors.
- Results and market response: evidence of impact and growing private sector interest in expanding the model.
The speakers showed how this collaborative, youth-focused model is changing the landscape of employment and entrepreneurship in Liberia.
- Read the Mercy Corps Consumer goods distribution intervention summary in the MSD4E Interventions Library.