ZANU PF youths have accused the country’s first “youth-focused” financial institution, Empowerment Bank (EB), of sabotaging President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ambitions to uplift young people.
This comes amid revelations that the financial institution
only served 1 319 youths in Bulawayo province over a four-year period.
EB was launched by Mnangagwa in 2018 to provide social and
financial solutions to the financially-excluded population, the youths.
The Zanu PF youths made the accusation during a
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation public
hearing on Friday chaired by Vungu
legislator Omega Sibanda (Zanu PF).
Legislators wanted to gather information on opportunities
created and challenges youths have faced since the opening of the bank in 2018.
Zanu PF youth chairman for Bulawayo, Freeman Murechu said
the EB was lacking urgency in funding youth-led projects.
“The language of some bank staff members is unprofessional.
That, on its own, poses more costs to the youth. The bank also lacks a sense of
urgency when it comes to funding and processing funds for youth projects as
some loans take too long to be approved.”
“The bank has no proper structures that make follow-ups to
check if the loans applied for are approved. The bank also does not have any
programmes of monitoring the youth before giving them loans,” Murechu said.
Zanu PF Bulawayo youth league secretary for security,
Godknows Mdhari also said: “The bank does not have interests pertaining to
youth empowerment because they are not eager to market youth businesses.
Decentralisation is also another problem that EB poses to the youth in Bulawayo
province.
Mdhari said the real EB was in Harare because Bulawayo
offices always sought approval from
Harare offices.
Ronald Ngwenya, a small-holder farmer who produces
mushrooms said he faced a problem of collateral and guarantors when he
approached the bank seeking for a loan to start his business.
“I approached the EB to seek a loan to start my business
but they told me that they do not offer loans to the youth who do not have a
monthly income. I failed to get a loan to start my business and their demands
for guarantees were not flexible,” Ngwenya.
Responding to the accusations, EB retail manager Betty
Sibanda said most loan applications that reached her desk only took two days to
be approved.
“Some loans that come to my desk only take two to 14 days to
be approved, but two weeks and above for those that have larger amounts of US$1
000, which can only be approved and signed for by the retail bank manager,”
Sibanda said. She said Bulawayo province
had the highest number of loan
applicants. The bank approved 1 319 loans out of 1 371 in four years. Only 52
applications were not approved. Newsday
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