Motivational Talk for Youth executive member Usama Ali Hassan at a past event. [Photo/Maxwell Ngala].
A youth leader and activist in Mombasa has urged the government to ensure youth access government funds to enable them to venture into business.Usama Ali Hassan said youth in Mombasa were facing hardships in accessing relevant information to enable them to access the loans geared towards helping them.Addressing youth at Majengo area in Mombasa on Monday, Usama said the majority of youth in Majengo do not know how to access the loans or how much is available for each interested group.Usama said officers managing the funds should go to the grassroots and encourage youth groups to take up the loans and invest in businesses.He said though the funds have been so helpful to many youth across the country, Mombasa and the entire Coast region was still lagging behind with many youth languishing in poverty.“We cannot all be employed; we do not have enough companies and industries to absorb all of us. We should be creative and employ ourselves,” he said.Usama who is also an executive member of the Motivational Talk for Youth group which creates awareness on how youth can prosper in life said if youth are fully informed on how to access the funds, they will embrace it and initiate various business projects.“I can’t figure out what these Youth Enterprise Development Fund officers are doing in their offices. They should reach out to our youth at the grassroots level,” said Usama.Usama gave an example of the Talanta loan which can be accessed by youth and especially artists and producers so as to develop their talents, saying it is the best for the fast-growing entertainment industry at the Coast.“This package has no interest at all but only a five percent management fee and a one month grace period. Our artists can easily access it,” he said.He also encouraged youth to apply for the Vuka start-up loan, an individual start-up loan.“For us to overcome economic challenges, we should access these loans, invest and then repay back so that our colleagues can also benefit from them,” he said.