Countries
Albania, Kosovo

Local project partner
Albania: The Resource Regional Environmental Center Albania (REC)
Kosovo: Kosovo Banking Association (BKA)

German project partner
tbd.

Donor
Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)

­Duration
01.06.2020 - 31.12.2025

The economies of Albania and Kosovo are heavily influenced by financial support from abroad and high unemployment. According to government sources, the unemployment rate in Albania is almost 12%, in Kosovo even 25%. In particular, the proportion of young people who are neither in education, training nor employment is very high, at around 27% in Albania and 50% in Kosovo. Access to financial services is insufficient in both countries and there is considerable catch-up potential in the area of financial education. Another challenge for the financial sector is the low level of lending: only 50% of deposits are re-disbursed as loans.

The overall development goal is to accompany the socio-ecological transformation of the economy - including the financial sector - and to improve training and employment, especially of young people in Albania and Kosovo, so that decent jobs with living wages are created, growth is generated and the local economy is strengthened in a socially just manner.

Project objectives

• Improving the basic financial and entrepreneurial education of the rural population in Albania and Kosovo, taking into account especially young people and the economically active population, so that offers are used more effectively for sustainable development.
• Strengthening the capacities of appropriate financial institutions or associations to provide adequate services to support the socio-ecological transformation.