(LUSAKATIMES) Youths urged to learn entrepreneurship skills

Youths urged to learn entrepreneurship skills
Posted on August 7th, 2008

The Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) has assured youths in the country that it has provided seed money in order to mitigate the difficulty that youths face in accessing empowerment funds from the commission. CEEC Chairperson Jacob Sikazwe reiterated that the commission has K150 billion which will be used to support broad based economic empowerment programmes for targeted citizens such as youths, women and the disabled.

Mr. Sikazwe urged youths to get close to successful business persons in the country in order to learn the best practices of managing an entrepreneurship. He said this in Lusaka today at a youth sensitization workshop on the operations of CEEC and funding guidelines organized by the Youth Association of Zambia.

And YAZ Executive Director Evans Musonda said his organized stands ready to partner with the CEEC in the area of sensitization in order to ensure that all young people access the empowerment funds.

Mr. Musonda also disclosed that his organisation has since January this year spent over K1 billion in giving loans to young people in seven provinces.

He said YAZ which works in partnership with the Copperbelt Forum will by September this year cover all districts in all the nine provinces in a bid to supplement government efforts in youth empowerment.

The two-day workshop has drawn about 30 youths from all the nine provinces and is being held at the Commonwealth Youth Programme office at the University of Zambia great east road campus.

ZANIS/BK/AM/ENDS