Youth Entrepreneur To Launch Funding Scheme
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday May 15, 2017 15:29
Speaking to The Monitor Business, Ndubo through his company, AYS Projects, decided to start an initiative called African Youth Fund (AYF), which is aimed at helping the youth who are aspiring to start their own businesses.
“I got retrenched and struggled to get a job which inspired me to come up with an initiative that can empower the youth who are struggling to get funding to pursue their dreams, ” he said.
According to Ndubo, he realised that most of the youth have big dreams, which are usually shattered due to lack of funding something that he said his company would address. He said that youth are the most unemployed thus the reason why he wants to encourage self-reliance amongst them by helping them start their own business.
Through the initiative, which was given a nod by the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), Ndubo said that after the launch at the beginning of June this year they would start opening applications for membership. This membership will accord applicants an opportunity to get training by in-house professionals and assist with the business proposals before finally getting funding which will be at zero percent increase.
“We want many youth to be involved as we would start with a pre-launch on the 23rd of May this year where we would address the youth and tell them about our mandate and the requirements from them. Through our initiative which we regard as a crowd fund, we would help the youth with personal development, marketing, customer service just to mention a few,” he said.
In addition, Ndubo noted that the training would be offered at different towns and villages across the country so that they accommodate everyone who is willing to benefit.
Furthermore, he noted that the loan amount that one can get is going to depend on the number of people who register as there is going to be a waiting period after subscribing to the scheme, adding that currently no sponsor has come on board. For one to get a loan, they have to go through a three months training, followed by mentorship.
“We want to have viable business ideas which can create employment and sustain themselves in the long run. We would also be encouraging the youth to team up and work in groups to develop their strategies,” he said.