VICE-PRESIDENT Joice Mujuru has called on youths to demonstrate focus in their empowerment endeavours through paying back loans taken to start up their business ventures.
Staff Reporter
This comes after some local banks have curtailed lending to youths under the youth, indigenisation and empowerment programme under the Youth Fund.
Parliament recently heard that Central African Building Society (Cabs) had suspended disbursements from its $10 million youth fund due to massive defaults.
Speaking at the official opening of a youth conference hosted at the University of Zimbabwe yesterday, Mujuru implored young people to be responsible with money borrowed for business. “Always remember to pay back your loans so that the next person in the queue can benefit,” she said.
“Don’t buy a car or buy an airplane ticket using money borrowed for business.”
The conference is aimed at facilitating policy dialogue among key stakeholders on how to address the economic empowerment of Zimbabwean youths through skills development and employment creation in a way that sustains and builds economic growth in the country.
The World Bank is a key development partner in the programme. “We don’t want to create job seekers, we have to create employers. Entrepreneurs have a role to play in economic growth,” Mujuru.
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She said most of the youths in the country were in a hurry to make money and they do not care how they do it.
Mujuru also said government remained committed to retaining a 25% quota for youths in agriculture, mining, tourism and industry among other sectors.
Speaking at the same event, Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province Miriam Chikukwa said discipline was imperative for young people to prosper in their business endeavours.
“Although I am urging banks and other people to provide funding for you, inasmuch as we need bankable projects, we need bankable behaviour,” she said.
“Your character justifies whether you deserve help or not. A chief executive won’t give a gangster money.”
Youths from all the country’s provinces converged for the two day conference to deliberate on matters affecting them such as skills development, financing, knowledge and policy frameworks in place to facilitate youth empowerment.