05 Aug 2020

A total of P12.3 million has been  disbursed to 131 businesses in the Kanye North constituency for the inception of Youth Development Fund (YDF) during financial year 2009/10 to financial year 2019/20.

Responding to a question in Parliament on Tuesday, Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, My Buti Billy said of the 131 funded businesses, only 110 were still operational, 76 of which were in arrears while seven had paid off the loans.

He said the current allocation of P2 million per constituency was still considered to be ideal for most of the constituencies, although some constituencies continued to attract a large number of applications and could need more funds while others spent less.

 Mr Billy stated that the ministry occasionally received reports from different parts of the country about the complexity of the forms, adding that they had  worked on making it easier for potential entrepreneurs to apply for the programme over the years.

In an effort to ease the application requirements, Mr Billy said application forms had been availed in Setswana and that there was provision for training of youth in their respective sectors before the funds disbursement through the assistance of stakeholders such as LEA and Agribusiness.

He said only two quotations were required when submitting the application form so as to compare the prices and help the applicant rationalise their budget.

Kanye North legislator, Mr Thapelo Letsholo had asked the minister to update Parliament on the amount disbursed on YDF projects in Kanye North and to also state the number of businesses funded during financial year 2009/10 to the financial year 2019/20. Ends