The government, through the Ministry of Sport, Youth, and National Service, has entered into a financing agreement with the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), under which DBN has availed an N.dollars 8 million loan facility to fund 28 rural youth enterprises.
The 121 Youth Enterprise project is a long-term youth entrepreneurship programme model under the Harambee Prosperity Plan 1 (HPP1), which emphasises youth entrepreneurship as an important sub-pillar to achieving economic growth and development among youth.
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said at a press conference in the capital on Thursday that Vision 2030 recognises youth development as an important cornerstone in national efforts to achieve sustainable development and that one of the desired outcomes for the National Development Plan 5 is empowering women and youth.
In this regard, she stated that the government has launched national interventions and adopted major action-oriented initiatives for the development of women and youth.
“As a commitment made under Harambee Prosperity Plan 1, under the Youth Pillar, one such programme introduced to promote youth empowerment is the establishment of 121 sustainable, competitive youth enterprises. The project’s goals are to create a minimum of one thousand two hundred and ten (1210) new, direct, permanent, and long-term jobs for Namibian youth living in rural and urban areas,” she stated.
She added that the development of rural youth enterprises is part of the national development goals of growing the economy, creating jobs and reducing poverty and inequality and that the government alone cannot address all of the country’s development challenges.
According to DBN Head of SME Finance, Robert Eiman, the rural enterprise is critical to the future of Namibian prosperity and food security, and the fact that the beneficiaries are from rural constituencies will contribute to the achievement of development impact in rural areas.
“This initiative supplements existing bank programmes that provide skills-based finance to young professionals, young artists and finance for other young entrepreneurs through the SME and Investment departments,” he explained.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
