Youth activist Lucky Mbewe has asked the government to assure Malawians whether the introduction of the Youth Innovation Fund is not a mere political trick ahead of the 16th September elections.
The National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCM) announced that the application window for the Youth Innovation Fund for the tourism sector has been reopened after a few submissions were received in the area compared with categories like agriculture and mining.
In an interview with Malawi24, NYCM Executive Director Rec Chapota announced this ahead of the launch of the 2-billion-kwacha fund on 2nd July.
Chapota says the extension is for two weeks until 16th June and reveals currently the youth and operators in the tourism industry are seeking clarifications on the remaining category.
“The tourism window is as open as all other windows, and this will be under rigorous checking and due diligence”
“The first group we are looking at is the idea stage, which can access up to K5 million whilst the growth stage can access up to K15 million, and the scale-up stage can access up to K18 million”, he said.
Commenting on the introduction of the youth fund, Youth activist Lucky Mbewe advises the government to assure Malawians that the move is not a mere political trick ahead of the 16th September elections.
“It’s a good initiative considering that it focuses on a specific target group but my appeal is that indication of sustainability should be made available to avoid starting it and stop it immediately after the elections because there could be possibilities that people will connect it as a political tool to influence youths to support the government. Otherwise, we would want to see and hear assurances of whether the program will go on after elections”
0 Comments