Capitalisation boost for Youth Fund

Ogone Tlhage
  • 1 Day Ago
The government is set to capitalise the National Youth Fund (NYF) to the tune of N$257 million under the sixth National Development Plan (NDP), President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah announced at its launch this week.

This marks one of the biggest investments in youth initiatives since Independence.

“The National Youth Fund has been capitalised with N$257 million and will be accessed through financial institutions such as the Development Bank of Namibia, AgriBank, NamPost and the Environmental Investment Fund,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said this week.

A guarantee facility from the Namibia Special Risks Insurance Association (NASRIA) was secured in May 2025 to improve access to non-collateralised lending for young entrepreneurs, Nandi-Ndaitwah explained.

“The fund will become operational mid-August 2025. Additional support of N$165 million has been mobilised from the Namibia National Reinsurance Corporation towards the National Youth Fund,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

“Namibia also received N$33.4 million under the Global Accelerator 1 programme to support youth entrepreneurship and job creation in the biomass sector. Under the Equipment Aid Scheme and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund, over 200 youth-led businesses were selected countrywide for support during the reporting period,” she added.



Beneficiaries include 196 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who received production equipment and capacity building by 11 July 2025. In addition, 28 youth were trained in gemstone and jewellery processing, 6 in agro-processing standards and 13 in cosmetics production drawn from all 14 regions, Nandi-Ndaitwah said.



“New beneficiaries will continue to be identified, and the next Call for Enterprise Support Programmes will be issued in the first week of August 2025 by the line Ministry. The above are golden opportunities that our youth must exploit maximally,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.