Parliamentarians from both Houses joined officials from the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs on Thursday for a hands-on tour of youth-led businesses supported by the Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund (YERF) in the Manzini region.
The visits, which took place across sectors such as agribusiness, retail, automotive, and fintech, aimed to give Members of the Ministry’s Portfolio Committees a deeper understanding of the fund’s impact on young entrepreneurs and the hurdles they face.
One of the tour’s first stops was the farm of Njabulo Dlamini in Endlinilembi, which was funded in 2014. Dlamini’s thriving agricultural business stood out as a successful example of how the E50,000 seed capital from the fund can grow more than just crops. The local chiefdom’s Indvuna, Babe Bhutana Gwebu, welcomed the officials and praised the initiative for fostering economic opportunities among youth in the area.
MPs expressed satisfaction with the quality of work being done by beneficiaries and noted that the fund is proving effective in tackling youth unemployment in Eswatini. More field visits are planned in other parts of the country, including Vusweni, Ngcayini, and Kwaluseni.
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