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Daniel Mhonda Mutare Correspondent
THE CBZ Bank-funded Youth Entrepreneurs Programme (YEP) has over the past two years offered technical support to over 400 formally registered companies run by youths to foster economic and social development by increasing fiscal space for previously marginalised key players.

The programme, which is in its third year, targets between 100 and 150 youths per province aged between 18 and 35 years.

Speaking at a two-day outreach training workshop here last week, CBZ senior manager (group marketing) Mr Joel Gombera said the programme offered training services to young entrepreneurs with the capacity to keep up and grow their businesses.

“Without receiving capital to start up business, an average of 415 formally registered, operational and employing companies have given us positive feedback as a result of the two-day training workshops aimed at cementing the ideas that young people already have,” he said.

YEP selected at least 100 participants to attend this year’s workshop in Manicaland.

Mr Gombera said the 2018 edition had been divided into two parts, the start-up and established businesses categories.

“The start-up category is for businesses at the idea stage or had been operating for up to a year, and will offer a top prize of $7 000, while the established businesses category will be for companies that had been operating for a maximum of three years and has a top prize of $5 000,” he added.

Mr Gombera said the programme was a practical and results-based initiative to produce growth-oriented and profitable businesses through networking the young people doing business from all the country’s 10 provinces.

Since 2016, 2 000 young people have been trained through the YEP programme, with 52 percent of those trained being women.