06 Jun 2017

A business and concept developer, Mr Hezborn Chintu has called for the transformation of the mindset of youth from being totally dependent on government to becoming self-reliant.

Addressing the youth at the African Youth Fund (AYF) launch in Gaborone on Saturday, Mr Chintu said that could be achieved through training programs on entrepreneurship meant to empower youth.

Mr Chintu said the AYF exists to provide youth empowerment through capacity development and an opportunity for financing of startup or expansion of youth projects.

He explained that young people needed to become part of the national youth network by registering with AYF to benefit from business mentorship training and project funding.

The training program known as Self Employment Training (SET), he said, would focus on workshop based entrepreneurship coaching and the funding of projects would be on a ‘no interest charge’ basis.

“The SET program is a very rich start-ups training program meant to empower the youth with knowledge on how to become self-reliant and be financially dependent,” he added.

The one-week SET workshop which will start on June 19 aimed to equip the youth with the knowledge of how to start a business and grow it. Mr Chintu noted that the program would transform people from the mindset of job-seeking to self-employment.

Additionally, Mr Chintu said that individuals would be funded to a minimum of P10 000 whereas a minimum of P25 000 would be funded for a group loan.

The AYF is a crowd-funding initiative where a group of people come together and put their financial resources together to achieve a common goal. It mobilises its capital from membership fees which amounts to P100 per member every month. ENDS