By Phiwa Sikhondze
Since its inception in 2009, the Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund (YERF) has been a cornerstone in the fight against youth unemployment, distributing over E27.2 million and empowering more than 1,000 young entrepreneurs.
The YERF marks a significant milestone this year as it celebrates 15 years of dedicated service to the youth of Eswatini.
Established by the government of the Kingdom of Eswatini under the vision of His Majesty King Mswati III, the YERF was created to provide business capital to qualifying individuals, associations, and companies. The Fund’s efforts have been focused on including as many youthful Emaswati as possible, leading to its revival in 2018 to expand its reach.
Mandla Nkambule, the CEO, expressed pride through their recently published Newsletter stating that the nation and its youth are invited to participate in YERF activities to commemorate this anniversary.
“We have a few activities lined up for this special year to be revealed soon. We also have regular activities and activations about the Fund which we believe can only be a success through the participation of the public and the youth,” he said, emphasizing that the success of the Fund can only be achieved through the participation of the public and the youth.
The YERF operates under the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Youth Affairs and is regulated under the Public Enterprises (Control & Monitoring) Act of 1989. Its main purpose is to promote youth employment and alleviate poverty by offering collateral-free seed capital loans to young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35.
Throughout its operation, the Fund has supported a diverse range of businesses across Eswatini, contributing to the economic growth and development of the country. The YERF Standard Loan, one of the Fund’s products, has been instrumental in providing credit to youth entrepreneurs without the need for upfront deposits or collateral.