ZYDT making plans to form a youth bank

THE Zimbabwe Youth Empowerment and Development is making plans to form a bank that will provide microfinance solutions to youth-led start-up and existing businesses countrywide.

The Zimbabwe Youth Development Bank is expected to start operating by the end of July this year.

ZYDT president Mr Aaron Mupandawana said the bank would be capitalised from proceeds from a joint venture they are proposing to enter with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.

"If established and operational, the joint venture will mine and sell diamonds to local and international buyers in line with the Kimberley Process. Proceeds will go to a youth fund that will be managed within the bank," he said.

He added that the youth-focused bank would reduce pressure on the Government to allocate funds to support youths in the country.

"One of the objectives of the bank is to mobilise deposits and promote a savings culture among informal markets as well as upcoming businesses and avail resources for productive on-lending," he said.

Mr Mupandawana added that the bank would have branches in all provinces with more focus on the rural areas where the majority of the people are unbanked.

"We have noticed that most people in the rural areas are unbanked and we hope to give the youths who are into business a chance to prosper and make a meaningful contribution to the GDP," he said.

He also said the trust had engaged rural district councils to help with the branch rollout and have them in charge of the branches to allow SMEs easy access to the fund.

Mr Mupandawana noted that their banking model would support the growth of the SMEs sector and prioritise the potential of resource extraction and project viability over immovable collateral that was being demanded by local banks.

He also said that ZYDT had also created a "wealth creators programme" that focused on youth skills development, training and capacity building.

"The programme will operate centres were youth entrepreneurs will access business advice on a wide range of areas including strategic planning and writing project proposals. It will also create business linkages with Government departments, reputable companies, regional and international youth groups and NGOs to allow access to markets, investments and resources for their businesses," he said.

Mr Mupandawana said that youths in the country faced a multitude of barriers preventing them from turning their ideas into viable enterprises which included lack of support, corruption, inadequate education and market barriers.

"These are the barriers that the trust aims to overcome. The trust's activities are therefore centred on resolving the national youth unemployment crisis an their exclusion from the mainstream economy," he added.