adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE government is in the final stages of reviewing the National Youth Fund with a view to reviving it in due course, the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Christopher Mushowe has said.
The ministry suspended disbursements of loans through the Kurera/Ukondla Youth Fund to the youths last year, following a high rate of non-performing loans which stood at 92 percent.
The fund, launched four years ago, targets youths between 18 and 35 years old.
Minister Mushowe yesterday told The Chronicle that he was in the final stages of consulting youth leaders to come up with a new model that will improve the performance of the loans and permanently empower the youth.
“We’re in the final stages of reviewing the youth fund and very soon the youths will be able to benefit from the fund again. Since the idea is to empower the youth and not to pay them, we decided to review the fund and come up with better ways to sustain the benefiting projects,” said Minister Mushowe.
“I’m still discussing with the leadership of the youth to see how we can tackle the disturbing poor rate of repayment, which is at 92 percent.”
Minister Mushowe said the review process was looking at various issues, which include the criteria to be used in selecting beneficiaries and the re-payment terms.
“We’re making a thorough review and looking at the causes of the low payment rate so that we see what to avoid in future. We also need to evaluate and take stock of the projects that didn’t do well and those that didn’t take off and find out the reasons,” said Minister Mushowe, adding that efforts were being made to recover some of the money.
He added that he was also discussing with the banks to see how much was left from the previous fund.
“This is a youth fund that I’ve just inherited and I need time to assess the whole situation and give the public the correct information. I’m also discussing with the banks to see how much is left and map the way forward,” he added.
“I want to make sure that whatever changes we make to the youth fund are as a result of a consultative process, not a decision by an individual.”
A subsidiary of Old Mutual, CABS is the disbursing agent of the $10 million Youth Fund which the government availed as part of its compliance with the indigenisation and empowerment law.
To date, the total number of approved beneficiaries for the Youth Fund is 3,601 with an approved amount of $5, 179 708 and of the approved amount, $4, 925 173 was disbursed with an average loan size of $1,438.
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