The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) has commended the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the launch of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Fund to support young Africans with easy access to funds to drive Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The initiative as it is, would create windows of enormous opportunities for teeming youths in Africa, and further heighten their hopes and aspirations in entrepreneurship. It said that lack of access to funds has been a major setback for aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators.
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The chairman of the Forum, Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia noted that majority of youths do not get access funds or even on a low interest rate.
As the AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina noted during the launch, several countries have already moved ahead to launch various sustainable youth engagement programmes, while others back home in Africa simply offer “hand-outs” to their youths.
Siasia stressed that Africa must now move beyond “youth empowerment” to feasible youth investment and sustainable engagement.
“In setting aside these funds, the AfDB must ensure that the funds are not domiciled in government coffers as done in the past. With recourse to past experience, Governments have never been good managers of such funds. The funds should rather be disbursed through responsible, Fund Managers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or passed down to the youths directly.
“As a driver of sustainable growth and development in Africa, the AfDB should put in place mechanisms to monitor how these funds are disbursed and ensure that they get into the right hands. The AfDB should also ensure that the initiative is sustained for the youths, who themselves, are the engine for sustainable growth and development,” Siasia said.
The Chairman/CEO at Mosilo Group, who noted that the fund will boost the morale and productivity of young people in Africa and spur them to global competiveness, urged banks and other financial lending institutions to wake-up and key into the initiative to provide young people with funding.
