BY MBONGENI NDLELA
MANZINI – Whilst the challenge of unemployment is palpable in the country, a lot of young entrepreneurs are taking advantage of available opportunities to create employment. The latest cohort of such entrepreneurs recently began their training by the Eswatini Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund (YERF).
YERF is a youth empowered fund established by the Eswatini Government aimed at contributing to the reduction of youth unemployment through the provision of business capital for qualifying individuals, associations and companies. The main purpose of the Fund is to promote youth employment and alleviate poverty among young people between the ages of 18 to 35 years old.
This group of young entrepreneurs is set to be the latest Youth Fund beneficiaries. Since its revival in 2019, the Youth Fund has disbursed over E10.5 million to over 200 youth-owned businesses, creating over 500 jobs.
The latest group of YERF beneficiaries began their training on the 1st of February this year. They’re a mixture of entrepreneurs from different regions of the country, as well as business sectors. The businesses which made it through the evaluation to be approved for funding this year include poultry, feedlot, mobile money, piggery, scrap and recycling, among others.
The next application cycle for the Eswatini Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund will be publicised on the organisation’s website and social media pages.
