MoYS: D1.5 million Grant to be Awarded to 29 Youths Next Week Tuesday

Minister for Youth and Sports Hon Bakary Badjie (c) Yusef Taylor

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon Bakary Badjie revealed that “through the Minister’s support, National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI) in the next few days will be giving out a total of D1.5 million to young people who have qualified to be given a grant to start their business or to expand the existing businesses”.

Minister Badjie made these revelations at the Ministry of Youth and Sports press conference convened today 5th June 2024 at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center. The press conference was chaired by the Government Spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh with statements issued by the Information Minister, Hon Ismaila Ceesay and Minister of Lands Hon Hamat N K Bah.

During his statement, Minister Badjie added that the grant “is supported through the Ministry’s Youth Entrepreneurship Fund which is meant to support young people in business who otherwise would not have had the capital to expand their business or to start a new business. Even if they do they have to go to the bank and take loans whose conditions they will not be able to meet”.
Seeking further clarification, Youth Minister Hon Badjie was asked to disclose the number of young people who would benefit from the grant and the procedure used to select the beneficiaries.

In response, Minister Badjie revealed that: “There is a process when it comes to the NEDI grants and loans. The grant is administered at our level at NEDI. There is an application that young people who have gone through the training because one must have completed the five days training that NEDI is doing and at the last day they can apply and they have a shortlist Committee that looks at the numbers and shortlists”.

He went further to explain that: “As usual you would have more than 100 people that would apply. Higher that that. Based on funding we are giving 29 young people on Tuesday 11th June 2024. So 29 young people out of the lot that applied. But this is for this year".

Speaking on similar efforts delivered last year, 2023 Minister Badjie highlighted that: "Last year we gave a similar number, 33 young people. Every year we do these presentations, like I said it’s a start-up".

Speaking about the loan scheme Minister Badjie added that "there is the loans scheme which because of [frudicial] responsibilities we’re working with [the Social Development Fund] SDF. It’s our fund but managed at SDF and if you do well with the grant, then after a year or two you can then qualify to apply for the loan which is supposed to be paid through the SDF with a 6% interest".