Money alone is not enough. Also, not for young refugees and migrants aspiring to become self-employed. They might be the necessary to survive, the idea to explore an opportunity or the aspirations towards growth and expansion like any other entrepreneur. Likewise, there are various forms in which they will become self-employed: it might be solo or hybrid self-employed, a micro or small enterprise, and even a medium sized one. Ans in all cases (external) financing will be needed to start and develop the new ventures but knowledge as well how to use it.

The aim to the Young Migrant Entrepreneurs Capacity Building project (in brief YMCB in this guide) is to develop an innovative approach to support young migrants’ entrepreneurship through a combination of education, training, and mentoring.

The overall connotation is that access to finance deals with the possibility that individuals or enterprises have to access financial services, including credit, deposit, payment, or insurances provided by third parties – formal and informal. Poor access to finance limits individuals, households, and entrepreneurs to function. Access to finance is expected to benefit society at large by accelerating economic growth and helping to raise income for those in the lower end of the income distribution pyramid in reducing income inequality and poverty. But that is only one face of the same coin. Over the past years it has become evident that effective access to finance is determined by:
- How well-prepared the prospective migrant/refugee entrepreneurs are to get started
- The level of preparation of trainers and coaches working with migrant or refugee entrepreneurs and how well they understand the context their clients live and operate
- The level of understanding of staff for FI’s and the degree to which appraisal procedures do not automatically exclude this group as potential clients