Creating decent jobs through infrastructure: EIIP’s impact in Francophone West Africa
With ILO support, countries are applying employment-intensive approaches to create decent jobs, strengthen local capacities, and build resilience in communities.
3 October 2025
BAMAKO, Mali (ILO News) – Across Francophone West Africa, the ILO’s Employment-Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) is helping communities build more than just infrastructure: it’s helping build resilience, inclusion, and decent jobs, particularly for youth, women, and displaced populations.
In Mali, a new project launched in April 2025 is already delivering results in the peri-urban areas of Bamako. With funding from the Government of Japan and technical support from the ILO’s EIIP, the initiative aims to improve urban infrastructure while simultaneously boosting livelihoods. Officially launched by the Minister of Employment, Ms. Oumou Sall Seck, the one-year project will engage 125 young people and women, including internally displaced persons and members of host communities, to rehabilitate key urban roads in Commune 6.
Implemented using the "chantier-école" model—a practical, on-the-job training approach—the project is not just about roadworks; it’s about building skills and enhancing employability. Participants learn construction techniques using local stone materials, while also benefiting from mentorship and life skills training. The initiative is being carried out in collaboration with the Agence pour la Promotion de l’Emploi des Jeunes (APEJ), the SENOU Vocational Training Centre, and local authorities, ensuring strong local ownership and sustainability.
As part of this project, between April and the end of September 2025, 30 tripartite stakeholders received training on employment-intensive investment (EII) approaches . Additionally, eight consulting firms and ten small and medium-sized enterprises received specialized training on EII approaches related to preliminary studies, tendering processes, contract management, and worksite organization.
Meanwhile, in Guinea, EIIP has supported the government in advancing a national strategy for labour-intensive public works, and efforts are already underway to align infrastructure investments with national employment policies. In Guinea’s case, the strategy development reflects a strong institutional shift toward embedding EII approaches across sectors—ensuring that roads, sanitation, and public works projects systematically contribute to job creation, particularly for young people.
Elsewhere in the subregion, similar progress is being made. In Burkina Faso, EIIP-supported public works projects have contributed to both post-conflict reconstruction and youth employment. Though smaller in scale, initiatives in Togo and Benin have laid the groundwork for future scale-up, especially through collaboration with national employment agencies and vocational training centres.
In Senegal, the Government, through the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, has recently finalized—with technical support from the ILO—a guide aimed at promoting both the quantity and quality of employment through public procurement. The document was submitted for validation by key stakeholders and social partners on 14 September 2025.
These achievements are underpinned by a consistent focus on capacity building. Across the region, EIIP supports training for engineers, contractors, and community-based organizations to apply EII techniques effectively. This includes technical design adapted to local materials, project management, and social safeguards—ensuring that infrastructure projects not only meet engineering standards but also uphold labour rights and gender inclusion.
The Francophone West African countries’ experiences with EIIP reveal a common thread: when infrastructure development is paired with employment policy and training, the results extend far beyond the physical works. Decent jobs are created, communities are empowered, and national systems are strengthened.
As these programmes grow and evolve, the ILO continues to work closely with local and national partners to scale up impact and document lessons learned. From urban roads in Bamako to national strategies in Conakry, the ILO’s employment-intensive investment approach is proving to be a practical, inclusive, and resilient development model—one that delivers not only concrete, but also opportunity, dignity, and hope.
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