YDF wheels jam as youth fail to repay loans
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday November 13, 2023 15:08
The call was made by President Mokgweetsi Masisi in his last week’s State of The Nation Address where he bemoaned that the repayment of loans is currently low. “For the sustainability of the fund, as well as for equity, I urge recipients of loans to timely repay their loans as this is a revolving fund,” he said.
YDF, which is housed under the Ministry of Youth, Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, is a half grant and half loan arrangement. Beneficiaries are expected to repay their loan component to enable government to sustain the programme as a way of demonstrating responsibility and accountability. For years, government has been concerned about the number of youth who default on their loans.
In 2020, the Youth Ministry launched the YDF loan campaign as an intervention to encourage all fund beneficiaries to pay back their loans as agreed in the contract they signed with the government. The campaign was themed ‘Akola ke Akole’ which translates literally to ‘You benefit, I benefit’ to urge defaulters to pay back the loans so that others can also benefit.
By then the Ministry threatened to take legal steps against those who were failing to repay their loans as it disadvantaged those on the waiting list. Since its inception, the Fund has disbursed P1.1 billion and in the process creating about 22,820 jobs. “YDF continues to be utilised to fund youth start-ups across multiple industries and sectors. Between 2021 and 2023, government has disbursed P157 million under the YDF which has created a total of 264 jobs in the corresponding years,” Masisi added.
Last year, the Ministry announced that they have collected just under P21million and is chasing a hefty P407 million debt from youth funded projects. Government continues to enhance the potential of young people to utilise opportunities and better their livelihoods. From 2018 to date, 17,247 young people have undergone employability training in the quest to improve their job search skills. Some of these trainings were conducted online, in accordance with the ongoing digital connectivity initiatives and with the support of development partners. This enables training to reach a wide number of young people in areas far from urban centres.