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| General Manager of the Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT) Marica Brandon is advocating an agressive push to boost the local youth entrepreneurship programme. |
Basseterre, St. Kitts (December 07, 2005): The youth entrepreneurship initiative of the Department of Youth is benefiting from a wealth of practical experience being shared by the general manager of the Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT).
Marcia Brandon is currently in St. Kitts for a brief consultancy and has touched base with a number of stakeholders involved in youth entrepreneurship. Barbados was the first regional island to implement the youth in business initiative based on a model conceptualized by the Prince of Wales in the 1980's.
Ms. Brandon told SKNIS that the 1996 introduction of the programme required a major change in the thinking of persons.
"When we started it a few years ago, we knew that it was something that was not going to be readily taken up because...there are not many people who want to lend young people money because they may think that they (the youths) will never pay it back," she stated. This skepticism was eventually overcome. The organization also went from community to community to gain the trust of interested individuals and assured them that the programme was there to assist.
Once that trust was developed young people began to take advantage of the institution's services. Over the years loans have been approved for persons establishing businesses in areas including aromatherapy, construction, auto repair, catering, electronics, landscaping, taxiing, interior decorating and IT services.
The general manager added that her organization has served over 300 persons of which 75 percent are still in business today. She told senior youth officer in the Department of Youth Dave Connor that his ministry must reach out to all sectors if its programmes are to succeed.
"What I would say to St. Kitts is that it needs to make sure that it gets its private and public sector and all the NGO's (non governmental organizations) working together," Brandon said. The cooperation of these entities are required to develop financing, entrepreneurial training and social development programmes.
Ms. Brandon stressed that youth entrepreneurship has the power to cure many of society"s ills as it gets young people to become contributors to themselves and their country as they eventually move to employ additional persons over time.
