@article{Gemma:206130,
      recid = {206130},
      author = {Gemma, Ahaibwe and Ibrahim, Kasirye},
      title = {Creating Youth Employment through Entrepreneurship  Financing: The Uganda Youth Venture Capital Fund},
      address = {2015-05},
      number = {677-2016-46684},
      series = {Research Series},
      pages = {32},
      year = {2015},
      abstract = {Youth unemployment continues to be a developmental  challenge not only in Uganda but in several sub Saharan  countries. At least 64 percent of the total unemployed  persons are youth aged 18-30 years. As the government  struggles to look for solutions to the unemployment  challenge, one approach has been the promotion of  self-employment through the establishment of National Youth  Funds. Specifically, the Youth Venture Capital Fund (UYVCF)  worth UGX 25bn (about US$ 10 million) was introduced in  2011 and more recently, in September 2013, government  significantly boosted youth schemes by allocating UGX 265  billion (about US$ 100 million) to the Youth Livelihood  Programme (YLP) over a five-year period. The major pillars  of these initiatives are: enterprise development, job  creation and business skills training and development.  Using the UYVCF as a case study, this study examines the  level and determinants of youth participation in the fund  and evaluates the operations of the fund against the  initial guidelines and design as stipulated in the Aide  memoire1 between the Ministry of Finance Planning and  Economic Development (MFPED) and the participating banks.  The study majorly relied on secondary data provided by  Centenary Bank, the largest commercial bank participating  in the fund and was complemented by a survey of  beneficiaries as well as potential beneficiaries. The data  sourced from the commercial bank provides an overview of  the fund beneficiaries by basic socio economic  characteristics while the field survey data was used to  compare the activities of beneficiaries vis a vis  non-beneficiaries. 

Results indicate that participation in  the youth fund program is positively and significantly  influenced by the age cohort of the youth entrepreneur (the  older youth aged 26-35 years are more likely to access the  fund compared to the younger youth (18-25 years), location  of the business (urban based businesses have a higher  chance of accessing the fund), type of business enterprise  (those in services are more likely to access the fund loan)  and business maturity. Although there has been some  positive effect of the fund on business expansion, we do  not find significant evidence of the youth fund effect on  jobs creation. It was also discovered that the major role  players are not entirely fulfilling their mandates and some  have sidetracked from the initial objectives. On the policy  front, we propose that for the youth fund to have a lasting  impact on its intended objectives, the promotion of youth  entrepreneurship should be approached comprehensively (not  only the credit component) and it should target productive  sectors with high employment creation potential. A strong  institutional framework and elimination of obstacles to  self-employment are other recommendations arising out of  the study.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/206130},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.206130},
}