The Guyana Youth Business Trust (GYBT) is aiming to almost double the value of loans disbursed to enterprising young Guya-nese this year and to significantly increase the number of young people who will benefit from those loans according to the Trust’s Manager Everton Joseph.
Last year the GYBT disbursed loans totalling $63m to more than 300 young people and according to Joseph the GYBT could disburse up to $120m to more than 400 young people in 2009.
Joseph told Stabroek Business that this year the GYBT intended to continue its mission to empower youths to pursue their own business ventures by supporting start-up initiatives. He said that the Trust was seeking to support viable economic ventures in a number of sectors including both crops and livestock, agriculture, services and vending.
Joseph told Stabroek Business that most of the young people who approached the GYBT for loans were women and that their enterprises included cosmetology, poultry rearing and other areas.
Meanwhile, according to Joseph, the GYBT was also seeking to foster even greater interest among its clients in its mentorship programme which he said involved assigning experienced persons to work alongside the Trust’s young clients.
He said that what the GYBT also does during its interaction with its clients is to monitor the progress of their enterprises in order to determine what technical help the Trust could offer. “Very often we are able to help in areas like management, accounting and record-keeping.
The Guyana Youth Business Trust is a non-governmental organization that was established in 2000 to provide affordable financing and assistance to disadvantaged youths going into business.
Joseph disclosed that the Trust is particularly keen on infusing its mentoring system into its relationship with its clients.
He explained that the focus of mentoring was on ensuring that clients secure more than just financial help from the GYBT. According to Joseph the idea behind the mentoring programme was to ensure that young and inexperienced clients receive both technical and practical guidance that could help them make sound decisions both in relation to their specific enterprises as well as in relation to business in general.
