Forty young entrepreneurs are currently operating new businesses through funding provided by the Guyana Youth Business Trust (GYBT) the youth arm of the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) under a US$101,800, 000 partnership programme between IPED and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) and several more are being prepared to access funding for business startups, according to GYBT General Manager Daren Torrington.
Speaking with Stabroek Business earlier this week Torrington said the new young entrepreneurs from Georgetown and Linden, primarily, had been provided with unsecured loans of up to $800,000, after they had all undergone two-week training and orientation programmes as part of the criteria for accessing the funding for small business enterprises. Torrington said GYBT’s clients who had accessed the loans so far had invested in a range of business enterprises that included barber shops, block-making establishments, canteens and goldsmiths’ establishments.
The GYBT General Manager said the training and orientation not only imparted information on the essentials of sound business practice but also assessed the “character, attitude and creditworthiness” of the applicants. “It is about much more than the soundness of the business proposal,” Torrington said. Having accessed the loan and put their business plans into operation the young entrepreneurs also benefit from a mentoring programme aimed at guiding them through the practical aspects of managing a business.
And Torrington told Stabroek Business that another group of prospective young entrepreneurs were scheduled to commence the two-week training and orientation programme on Tuesday. “What we are seeking to do is to create an entrepreneurial culture. Our goal is to train 900 young entrepreneurs over the next three years. The programme will take the GYBT into schools where, according to Torrington, modest grants will be provided for model business projects, which the students will be required to complete.
In January this year, the United States Agency for Development (USAID) announced that it was launching a two-year US$2.6 million project targeting detention prevention, to provide work-readiness and livelihood training activities for youths aged between 15 and 24. It named a number of institutions including the GYBT and the Washington-based Education Development Centre (EDC) that have been identified to execute the project.
