YDF prioritises manufacturing, agric sectors
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday August 16, 2022 06:00
Existing self-financed youth businesses with evidence of proper financial records and attractive prospects for expansion and job creation will also be prioritised. When opening calls for funding youth initiatives, the ministry has said the threshold for the Youth Development Fund (YDF) financing remains at P100,000 for individuals and P450,000 for youth industries and cooperatives.
YDF, under the Youth ministry, is a half-grant and half-loan arrangement in which beneficiaries are expected to repay their loan component to enable government to sustain the programme as a way to demonstrate responsibility and accountability. “Youth entrepreneurs are encouraged to complete application forms and comply with existing programme guidelines.
Applications that do not comply with these requirements will not proceed to the appraisal stage and will immediately be disqualified,” Youth Minister Tumiso Rakgare said. Earlier this year he said, during the financial year the ministry received 8,383 applications. An amount of P79.8 million was disbursed to the youth as at February 2022. A total of P4,632,739 against an annual target of P4 million has been collected from youth businesses as repayment towards the loan component for their funded projects.
According to the youth minister, the amount is satisfactory considering the negative impact of the pandemic on many youth businesses. He said they continued to monitor funded projects and supported some of the YDF beneficiaries with the provision of operational spaces, capacity building, and marketing. A total of 1,133 businesses were visited for monitoring across the country against an annual target of 1,220.
Meanwhile, government vowed to take legal action against those who fail to pay back as it also disadvantages those on the waiting list to benefit from the programme.
In the 11 years, government has collected just under P21 million and is chasing a hefty P407 million debt from funded youth projects. Government has said that the amount owed is enough to fund 4,072 projects over three-and-half years. In 2020, the ministry launched the YDF loan repayment campaign as an intervention to encourage all fund beneficiaries to pay back their loans as agreed in the contract they signed with the government.