Banks, give the youth that money

recently launched Wealth Creation Fund run by Stanbic Bank are administering the funds.
While youths and older persons continue to clamour for resources to be channelled to their economic empowerment needs, there is a greater need to make maximum use of the facilities currently available.

There is no use in clamouring for more facilities when US$9 million out of the US$10 million is still held in CBZ, when US$10,7 million out of US$11 million is held in the CABS account, and other huge sums of money are still in the reserves of the administering banks.
Hence, both youths and administering banks should take a closer look at the process and make a commitment to make full use of the available resources.
Failure to do this will do injustice to Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who went out of his way to source funds on behalf of thousands of youths seeking to embark on wealth-creation projects.

Youths, for their part, should come out of their shells and participate fully in the empowerment process.
Rather than moaning repeatedly for the relaxation of application conditions, youths should step forward and thrive to meet the conditions agreed on by the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment and banks.

For the minister has gone a long way to make sure that inhibitive conditions like collateral are removed for the CABS loan while guarantors could be used for other loans. Hence, youths should thrive on developing viable business projects that will convince the banks that they are indeed capable of running successful businesses such that they will be in a position to pay the money so that other youths benefit from the revolving fund.

While it is important that each and every person who is running or intends to run a business be able to articulate his ideas, youths might need help to put the ideas on paper. This is where youth development officers should come in and assist so that brilliant ideas can be moulded into a sound business proposal that can unlock funding in banks.

Youths should also involve themselves in areas where the country has comparative advantage like agriculture and mining. For example, a group of youths can come together and apply for land so that they can venture into potato farming.
They would then develop a combined proposal for submission to CABS or Stanbic. Such a project will stand a good chance of convincing the bank on its viability while youths can act as guarantors for each other.

On the other hand small-scale miners can put together youth groups and apply for equipment like jack hammers, compressors, water pumps, all of which will make a significant contribution to their activities.
Youth with disabilities can put together consortiums and participate in areas they can successfully manage, for example, in supply and distribution. Like-minded

youths can put various empowerment groups in cattle ranching, tourism, transport and so forth depending on the comparative advantage of their area of operation.

This will facilitate their movement from the back benches to the frontline of the Zimbabwean economy.
While the youths can and have been mobilised to participate fully in claiming their stake from the youth empowerment funds, banks should also play their part in bringing the funds closer to our people.

While CBZ has done a lot in terms of advancing loans to thousands of youths, there is very little the bank has done in terms of marketing the products to youths, particulary in rural areas. Thus, the bank has to go out of its way to market the fund since the receipt of funds by youths who will pay back their loans creates a win-win situation for both youths and the bank.

While the CABS-administered Kurera/Ukhondla Youth Fund is well known on the youth market, the bank has not done much in assisting the youths in crafting viable business projects so that they boost their chances of accessing the money.
While the bank indicated that US$1 million of the US$11 million available has been reserved for capacity building, nothing on the ground points to any capacity-building programmes initiated by the bank.

Rather than waiting to build the capacity of someone who has already received money, why not build the capacity for a budding youth entrepreneur to enhance his/her chances to access the money? Another key area that needs to be addressed urgently is that banks should not dictate to youths areas they would like to fund.
While it remains the banks’ prerogative to make the final decision on the awarding of the loans, youths should not be frog-marched into doing projects they neither have information nor interest in.

For example, most banks have been insisting on funding manufacturing projects, yet players in the sector are prone to viability challenges, especially new projects.
Thus, thousands of proposals face rejection on that basis. Youths should have the greenlight to venture into projects they are well versed in. For example, if a youth is used to unlocking cellphones, give him/her funds that will allow him to develop in that direction.