Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has provided N$8 million to finance 28 rural youth enterprises.
Prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the 28 enterprises are part of a wider initiative to provide funding to 121 rural youth enterprises.
“Funding for youth enterprises is an important component of Namibia’s goal to achieve sustainable development, under the Fifth National Development Plan.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the project aims to create 1 210 new, sustainable, permanent jobs.
DBN’s initial involvement consisted of business management training for 407 young people from the 121 rural youth enterprises, an exercise that involved technical support to the tune of N$1,2 million.
DBN head of SME finance Robert Eiman said the bank sees threefold value in the initiative.
“The bank has as one of its goals the provision of finance for young entrepreneurs.
The programme is expected to be a seed for the future of Namibia’s economy, and youth enterprise will be the pool from which it draws its future prosperity and employment creation,” he said.
Eiman said the initiative complements existing bank programmes that provide skills-based finance to young professionals, young artisans, and finance for other young entrepreneurs through its SME finance and investments departments.
“The bank believes that rural enterprise is critical to the future of Namibian prosperity and food security.
The fact that the beneficiaries are from rural constituencies will add to the attainment of development impact in rural areas,” he said.
Eiman added that the bank is seeking to finance agri-processing, an offshoot of manufacturing, as well as agri-industry which supports agriculture.
“The agricultural roots of many of the enterprises that will benefit from this initiative will foster secondary value adding to agriculture.
The disbursement and administration of finance for the 28 enterprises will be managed by the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service,” he said.
Bank spokesperson Jerome Mutumba urged young entrepreneurs to approach the bank with sustainable business plans to apply for finance as SMEs, or to apply for skills-based finance for young artisans or young professionals.
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