Eleven youth enterprises from various regions received business materials worth N$2.5 million under the Rural Youth Constituency Enterprises program in Nkurenkuru. The enterprises were selected during the 2023/2024 financial year as part of the Harambee Prosperity Plan aimed at promoting youth entrepreneurship.

Lysias Haiduwa, Deputy Director of Youth Employment and Training, explained the program’s objectives: “The objective is to establish one-factor youth enterprise in 121 constituencies, to promote youth entrepreneurship and self-employment, to enhance access to finance for youth-led enterprises, and to contribute to local economic development and poverty reduction.”

The initiative includes entrepreneurship training, loan acquisition support, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Dino Ballotti, encouraged beneficiaries to think beyond immediate local markets. He emphasized the importance of regional and international expansion, saying:

“Can not only be Kavango West. Your target market can not only be N$3 million Namibians. Are you hearing what I'm trying to say? What’s the population of Angola? 40 million, maybe a bit more. We need to emancipate our minds from believing that my customer is only the person that I can see. The customer must be SADC. 360 million potential customers. The customer must be Namibia. It cannot only be Nkurenkuru or the region.”

The program is implemented in partnership with the NANTU Likwafela Cooperative, with the Development Bank of Namibia as the financing partner.