Guyana Youth Business Trust seeking to create 240 new businesses next year
Stabroek News
December 1, 2006
The Guyana Youth Business Trust is seeking to set up at least 240 young people in business next year under its programme that offers business development packages that include business loans, training in business management and a mentoring programme for novice investors.
Coordinator of the Trust Taryn De Mendonca told Stabroek Business in a recent interview that its focus on the creation of opportunities for young Guyanese with no previous business experience was designed to reduce the high unemployment rate among youths. "Our aim is to make possible the creation of a new business every business day in 2007."
Ms. De Mendonca told Stabroek Business that while 24 per cent of the country's total population is aged between 20 and 34, persons in that age group comprise 44 per cent of the total number of unemployed persons in Guyana. She disclosed that the Trust's 2007 programme will be targeting persons aged between 18 and 35 for support in the development of viable businesse ventures.
Ms. De Mendonca told Stabroek Business, however, that the focus of the Trust will go beyond simply providing capital to finance business development. She explained that novice investors seeking to qualify for support from the Trust will be exposed to a broader business orientation aimed at equipping them to operate sustainable ventures.
The broader orientation of the Trust includes the provision of in-house training in business management as well as a mentoring programme under which experienced businessmen will be assigned to mentor and monitor the progress of novice investors who benefit from loans provided by the Trust. The Trust is also equipped to provide novice investors with expert guidance in the creation of sound business plans and in the refinement of existing ones.
Since its establishment in 2000 the Guyana Youth Business Trust has provided more than 1000 loans to 426 young persons and Ms De Mendonca explained that while the Trust's official policy limited individual loans to loans to a maximum of $800,000.00 that ceiling had been extended in particularly deserving cases.
Most of the loans provided by the Guyana Youth Business Trust have been disbursed to young people in the retail and poultry sectors while loans have also been disbursed to young investors in the information sector. Last year the Trust disbursed a total of $45m in loans and Ms De Mendonca said that that amount will probably be equalled at the end of 2006.
Ms De Mendonca told Stabroek Business that because the Trust recognized that the lack of capital represented a major barrier to the creation of a strong business culture among young Guyanese its lending requirements did not include the traditional forms of security required by the commercial banking system. "We evaluate applicants based on particular criteria and accept submissions like recommendations and character references as part of the criteria for working with applicants.
Ms De Mendonca explained that while it was not the policy of the Trust to determine the area of business in which its clients become involved its 2007 programme would seek to focus on viable investment opportunities in areas such as agriculture and aquaculture. The Trust, however, will continue to work with clients based on the soundness of their own business plans.
According to Ms De Mendonca the Trust is seeking to develop a more pro active posture next year that would include more community outreach work by its field officers. She said that the Trust was also interested in working with NGO's and community groups with youth agendas in order to identify and support business ventures that were best suited to young people in their communities.
The Guyana Youth Business Trust was established in February 2000 in response to the high unemployment rate in Guyana. The entity is supported by the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) with which it shares premises but operates as a separate entity run by its own Board of Directors. The Trust also benefits from the support of IPED through its offices and sub-offices in Berbice, Essequibo, Lethem, Linden and Bartica.