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 A new project has started recently with funding from the 2009 CVS Ball. The project is aiming to recruit and train promising entrepreneurial talent among the youth in Nkhata Bay North. This should then enable them to apply for government loans under the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF). Temwa would like to welcome our latest member of staff, Sharon Rose Pemba, who was recently employed as an Enterprise Development Assistant to coordinate the project.
There has been massive interest in the loans amongst local youth and Sharon has had a huge job on her hands identifying 80 groups and then shortlisting these to the 38 best applications. In doing this she has aided the groups in the creation of their business plans and constitutions in accordance with the YEDF guidelines.
There is a large range of business being applied for, with the most popular being pig production, poultry production, irrigation farming and fish farming.
The government has only pledged to give loans to 30 groups so far. Applications have started to be submitted and we are delighted to announce that the government recently informed us that 16 groups have been successful so far. These 16 groups have been allocated a hefty sum of money to begin their businesses and there have been many smiling faces throughout Nkhata Bay North as a result. The business ideas that are now going to be put into practise from these 16 groups include pig production, beekeeping, poultry production, carpentry/joinery, goat production, cooking oil production, fish farming, fish selling and tobacco production. The government has also pledged to give free training to each group in their specific business area.
Loans are expected to start being paid back after 6 months in instalments at a rate of 15% interest (a very low interest rate for Malawi). Temwa are committed to supporting all the groups within our catchment area and we have already given many of them business management training. This support will be ongoing to ensure the success of their businesses and the repayment of their loans.
Impressed with the incredibly high degree of interest in such loans among youth as well as adults, Temwa is currently looking for other microloan institutions to partner with in order to fill this gap and facilitate the start up of more small businesses within our catchment area.
 Sharon Rose Pemba, Temwa's new Enterprise Development Assistant
Sharon with a group in Chiwisi submitting a furniture making business application
Sharon holding one of the groups business plans that she helped them prepare
A fishing business group in Chiwisi talks to Sharon about their application
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