RUNDU - Deputy minister of youth Emma Kantema-Gaomas says for youth to be change actors, they need to be supported and capacitated. 

She made the remarks during the launch of Beyond Me Bootcamp initiative aimed to empower around 80 change agents in Kavango East in agripreneurship.

The event was launched on Thursday in Rundu and is sponsored by Agribank.

The youths were treated to an information session by Agribank on the types of loans they can access if they are well organised. They were also taken through the requirements to access the Woman and Youth Loan product by the bank.

“The initiative was birthed from an idea to build capacity for the youth who are change agents in our communities, region and the country at large. This initiative will be rolled out to other regions as well,” she said.

The launch of the event was attended by youth representatives from various constituencies and members of the Kavango East Youth Forum. The youth were also given information on youth policy and entrepreneurship in general.

The programme was tailored to address some of the factors that impact the growth of youth entrepreneurs. 

“The Minister of Finance, Iipumbu Shiimi, tabled a youth-centred budget. This is testimony to government putting the money where our mouth is,” she noted. 

Kantema-Gaomas informed young people in attendance that the 2022/23 budget once again has made significant allocations to the social sector, of which ministries with programmes to assist youth have been allocated budgets to implement such programmes. To address the unemployment rate in the country, government continues to make significant investments in education, training and skills development.

“In this respect, the 2022/23 budget makes provision for explicit programmes and provisions in the areas of youth entrepreneurship, expanding of TVET for enhanced skills development, upskilling of unemployed youth graduates and sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, renewable energy and tourism,” she said.

Over the years and through different interventions, the ministry has joined forces with various stakeholders to address the plight of unemployment among Namibian youth. 

“Employment creation amongst youth is both a moral imperative and an economic necessity as emphasised by the government in the Harambee Prosperity Plan. This framework explains that youth entrepreneurship is an important ‘sub-pillar’ to realising economic growth and development,” she noted.

The recently launched National Youth Policy III advocates for better coordination among institutions, to ensure that youth development is mainstreamed at various levels.

“We commend institutions such as Agribank that introduced targeted programmes for the youth and women. Coming back to Beyond Me Bootcamp, it is an effort to leverage on the current networks of youth and business ecosystems in order to lead the change in spurring innovation, acquisition of 21st-century skills, increasing capacity for entrepreneurial activities,” she said.