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Howdy folks! I should confess that I proudly belong to that renowned age 35-and-below section of the population.
There are 4,5 million of us — economically active — dotted across the length and breadth of the republic.
We just cannot, therefore, afford to go unnoticed!
To some of those who belong to this age group, the word “leaf” still carry a street definition of that little white paper which is used to roll the stuff they usually smoke to get high.
Get high and forget about your idleness for a little while. Yes, forget about your unemployment and the effects that come with it.
And there is a new Leaf in town that Government is purposing to give to members of the G35. But it’s perhaps necessary to first demystify this G35 monster before it starts to be connotatively regarded; and to also situate it in the scheme of things.
G35 simply refers to all the youths in the country, as defined by Section 20(1) of our Constitution. The section says that youths are “people between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five”.
So, there you go!
Like I said already, the economically active who make up this G35 population is a whopping 4,5 million people. And the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency say 76 percent of that population is employed, according to its 2014 Labour Force Survey.
That may give the impression that there is a satisfactory number youths already employed.
But, like I have argued before, the International Labour Organisation’s definition of employment that is used by ZimStat is far much unrealistic in our context as it counts even those who are doing menial activities as employed.
The ILO definition is only ideal in developed countries which have high spending allocations on social services and the youths there can benefit from unemployment cash transfers, free health and education, amongst other safety net freebies.
Otherwise, youth unemployment in Zimbabwe remains as once described about youth unemployment in the region by a Zambian minister, Mr Alexander Chikwanda, that “youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb for all of us”.
Now, can we afford to watch this time bomb counting down, without disarming it, especially when we have a Constitution that says that the State shall endeavour to ensure that youths “are afforded opportunities for employment and other avenues to socioeconomic empowerment” (Section 20.1.c).
Although the youths constitute the majority of the population in the country, they have often times been excluded from participating in the economic activities of the country as can be clearly seen in how they are bearing the brunt of the current economic challenges being faced by the country.
One of the reasons why we have worrying inequality levels in the country is the inadequate inclusion of the youths in the main activities of the economy.
Growth that excludes the majority from benefiting is undemocratic.
In light of the above, the current efforts by Government, through the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, by launching the Localised Empowerment Acceleration Facility (Leaf) which seeks to augment economic empowerment are quite commendable.
It is a good thing that we have previous youth funds that were released before from which we can learn and draw a few deductions on how best to frame Leaf in such a way that the money will continue to revolve and that many can access.
We have funds such as the Kurerwa/Ukondhla Youth Fund which had to be suspended before it was exhausted as a result of the high loan default ratios that were being incurred, as youths failed to repay — a clear indication of project failure.
Now Government is saying that Leaf applicants are supposed to have accessed previous Youth Development Fund facilities established by the ministry and repaid their loan amounts in full.
Why should youths who have been given loans before be the ones to be first receiving again this time around?
That is discrimination which can only promote deeper inequalities. The fund must actually give the priority to those who are actually applying for the first time.
If those who paid back were given their previous loans on the basis of how dynamic and competitive their business proposals were, then there is no point to give them more money when they are assumed to be making good profits by now?
We can’t really promote youths to pay back the loans by disadvantaging other youths who may have brilliant ideas.
The main reason why many youths who previously accessed loans for income generating projects failed to take off is that they lacked real entrepreneurship training and many found themselves stuck with lots of money which they could not handle.
That is partly thanks to the current nature of our generic entrepreneurship curriculum being offered in our institutions of learning.
The curriculum is too theoretical and avoids the practical issues which relate to the Zimbabwean economy.
In most cases, you can find a student who has done an entrepreneurship module still being clueless on how to register a company in Zimbabwe or what the requirements are, being ignorant about the export procedure, or about the requirements of Nssa, Zimra, Ema, among other things.
It is, however, wonderful to note that the beneficiaries for this new fund are now expected to have been trained through the Start Your Own Business Programme and it is also my hope that the syllabus of that programme will not be too theoretical but involve the practical aspects of entrepreneurship in the country.
You see, it is very dangerous to find yourself with something that you do not know how to use.
Chances are very high that it might destroy you or you may destroy it — and become a casualty in its destruction.
We need youths who know the worth of every dollar they shall be getting.
But one thing I should commend is how the fund has been localised to ensure that every constituency get a similar amount countrywide.
This will certain bring equity in resource allocation.
But I would have further preferred that the fund not be loaned to individuals but to a group of youths in the different constituencies to embark on value addition projects, utilising the specific resources in their area.
There will be an independent commission that is set to identify viable value addition projects in all constituencies and recommend the kind of machines to acquire.
The idea is for every constituency to acquire about three small machines that can add value to the resources in that area.
The machines can range from water purification machines, toilet roll making machines, fruit canning machines, soap and detergents making machines, oil press machines, among others.
What is interesting to note is that such small value addition machinery can be acquired cheaply from companies like Zhauns in South Africa, and the fall of the rand will also make it worthwhile.
If we are to acquire at least three small value addition machines for every constituency, then not less than 650 machines could be acquired countrywide.
The community would be encouraged to buy from these new local producers.
This way, there will be high chances that the projects would succeed, with the money being repaid in the shortest period of time to allow other youths to access it.
The youths cannot continue to be excluded in the economic growth agenda of Zimbabwe as they are the majority.
If the majority are excluded from participating in the economic activities of the country, then there won’t be democratic growth and the country.
We should position the G35 to reclaim their role as the future of the country.
Later folks!
Online Reporter