National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI) with support from the government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Youth and Sports has disbursed 6.6 Million Dalasi to support youth and women entrepreneurs.
The 40 youth (male and female) entrepreneurs benefited D50, 000 each as a grant and loan to other 11 youth entrepreneurs from Social Development Fund (SDF) ranging from D200 to D500, 000.
The event was presided over by the Minister of Youth and Sports Hon. Bakary Y Badjie at Nana Conference Hall in Bakau during the weekend. This disbursement is part of NEDI’s effort to support youth entrepreneurs and enterprise development of the young people in the country.
The grants and loans provided will be supporting youth businesses in the various trade areas of our economy, which includes fishing, aquaculture, agriculture, horticulture, food processing, welding and fabrication, solar and satellite installation, poultry production, sheep fattening, animal raring, tailoring and fashion, mini-markets, restaurant, hair dressing and general merchandise businesses.
The 51 beneficiaries included youth entrepreneurs from URR, CRR, NBR, LRR, WCR, KM and Banjul. This will increase employment opportunities and income for these youth and women entrepreneurs.
Hon. Badjie applauded the efforts of the Government for providing youth entrepreneur’s access to Finance.
“The youth entrepreneurship fund is a component of the Youth and Sports Development Levy that is earmarked to support youth with viable business ideas to develop their business,” he said.
He recalled that in July 2020, The Government of the Gambia, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs conducted an assessment to roll out the implementation of the youth revolving loan fund.
“The process involved the implementation of youth revolving loan and grant schemes to be financed from the Youth and Sports Development Levy under the Ministry of Youth and Sports,” he added.
He said that to ensure that the impact of the fund is sustainable for the continued implementation of the program; SDF has been identified to manage the Youth Revolving Loan Scheme with their experience in managing similar interventions and NEDI to implement the training, mentorship, coaching, and provision of mini-grants for the youth.
The assignment to these two institutions, he added was based on their comparative advantage informed by the findings of the assessment conducted in July 2020 by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.
He disclosed that the Youth revolving fund scheme is an initiative of the Government of the Gambia managed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, to provide access to affordable financial services, promote the growth of youth-led enterprises and create employment opportunities for youth and women entrepreneurs
He noted that the training conducted by NEDI provides the platform for youth and women entrepreneurs to explore opportunities and strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit. It enables young people re-position themselves as key players in the economic system and creates jobs for themselves.
Minister Badjie further stated that the Government of the Gambia through MoYS is aware of the critical role of youth in national development. As such, the government will continue to support entrepreneurship development which is a vehicle for job creation and economic growth. He said his Ministry will continue to support initiatives geared towards building the productive base of youth and women in the country.
Hon Minister Badjie expressed appreciation of the various interventions support provided by partners to support youth entrepreneurship development geared towards creating self-employment opportunities for youth. He acknowledged that these interventions are highly welcomed by his Ministry. He assured the partners that their support in complimenting government efforts is highly recognized and valued.
“Self-employment creations are catalyst for the reduction of youth unemployment, irregular migration and crime reduction among the youth and can immensely contribute to economic growth and development of the Gambia,” he said.
Mrs. Juldeh Ceesay, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, expressed the strong collaboration between her and Ministry of Youth and Sports for the implementation of the project to provide grants and loans for the youth of this country to engage in the creation of employment opportunities through youth enterprise development.
She urged the beneficiaries to ensure that they effectively utilize the opportunities to further their businesses.
Mr. Kajally Sonko, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, said government is committed to providing funding for the youth and women entrepreneurs, citing the Women Enterprise Fund recently created which will complement the youth enterprise fund.
Mr. Alagie Jarju, Executive Director, National Youth Council, representing the Grant Review and Approval Committee of the youth business grant, urged the beneficiaries to utilize the grants in their businesses so that they can grow their business and create more opportunities for other youth.
“The Government of the Gambia has fulfilled one of the requests of the youth on access to finance to engage in business, so it is now the responsibility of the beneficiaries to manage the grants well,” he said.
He added that this will make the work of the National Youth Council (NYC) easy when they approach government for more funds towards youth development. He noted that the funds provided today are part of the demand made by the NYC for government to establish Youth Development Fund as indicated in the NDP. He applaud government for fulfilling one of the request made by the National Youth Council on Behalf of the Young people of the Gambia.
Abass Bah, General Manager, NEDI said his institution will continue to develop strategies to support youth and women entrepreneurs, saying the support is first of its kind in recent years.
“This will indeed create many youth employment opportunities and will reduce irregular migrations challenges and increasing income and raising standard of living for our youth,” he said.