GOYN Barranquilla: Ecosistema de Emprendimiento Juvenil en perspectiva (October 2025 | Spanish)

A Closer Look at the Youth Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: findings and challenges

In Colombia, 26% of young people between the ages of 14 and 28 are neither studying nor working—equivalent to 3.2 million individuals (GEIH, 2021). In Barranquilla, this proportion rises to 40% (Javeriana, 2022). However, for GOYN Barranquilla, Opportunity Youth (Jóvenes con Potencial, JCP) include not only those who are out of school and unemployed, but also young people engaged in informal occupations, whether self-employed or working for others. According to the GOYN Barranquilla Report (2024), 45% of young women and 55% of young men in Barranquilla fall into this category.

Building on these insights, the present study expands previous reflections and findings by offering a detailed characterization of young entrepreneurs—their contexts, the challenges they face, and their perceptions of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the metropolitan area. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted over several months, the study gathers valuable information that can serve as a foundation for designing and implementing interventions to strengthen youth entrepreneurship, with a differential and context-specific approach.

“Youth entrepreneurship needs an ecosystem that believes in its potential.”