K4M MORE RAISED FOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 09:42:07 +0000

By Annie Zulu

GOVERNMENT has mobilised an additional K4 million for rolling the youth street vendors’ empowerment scheme to other provinces, Minister of Youth, Sport and Child Development Moses Mawere has disclosed.

Mr Mawere recalled that last year, K5m was made available and disbursed to 2,225 youths, particularly in Lusaka, Central and Copperbelt provinces.

He noted due to positive feedback, Government had since decided to extend the empowerment scheme to other provinces.

The Minister disclosed this in a ministerial statement on the youth street vendors’ empowerment scheme in Parliament yesterday. Mr Mawere said about 2,667 youth street vendors were expected to benefit from the newly mobilised funds.

“The empowerment scheme was launched in June, 2016. The scheme was piloted in 2016 in three provinces namely Lusaka, Central and Copperbelt provinces. An amount of K5m was made available and disbursed to 2,225 young people.

“The pilot has been progressing well with positive loan recoveries recorded so far, hence the decision to extend to other provinces,” Mr Mawere said.

He explained that provinces with higher population figures like Southern, Eastern and Copperbelt provinces would get higher amounts.

Mr Mawere reiterated that the empowerment scheme was aimed at increasing access to affordable finance to youth street vendors to make their businesses sustainable and profitable.

 “This is to empower and enable the youth to grow their businesses to higher levels that will make them leave the streets to trade in more organised modes of trading such as transacting in shops.

“The principle, therefore, is that once a youth gets a loan, liquidates it, that youth is eligible to get the same or higher amount,” Mr Mawere said.