Youth Access to Finance
RYAF has identified several constraints serving as bottlenecks to youth individuals or youth SMEs in accessing finance from financial institutions. Most financial service providers are reluctant to provide their services to youth– including credit, savings and insurance – particularly to rural youth due to their lack of collateral and financial literacy, among other reasons. Promoting financial products tailored to youth, mentorship programmes and start-up funding opportunities can all help remedy this issue.
There is main two factors which influence the youth access to finance. The first is the limited youth financial literacy preventing them from knowing and understanding the requirements to access finance and, second, Financial Institutions which are reluctant to give financial services to youth for risk avoidance.
To ensure that these challenges are addressed, RYAF has vehemently started the stand-alone access to finance initiative aiming to building the youth financial literacy (through trainings, business pitching, encouraging and supporting them to group themselves into informal savings clubs and networking ...) and also creating enabling environment for the youth through advocacy made to projects, Financial Institutions and Government.
Advocate for creation of youth affordable financial services such as credit, loans, grants and other forms of finances. RYAF is organizing the trainings specifically on access to finance through partnership with FAO, Nguriza Nshore… as well as meeting with various financial institutions for agreeing on possible intervention towards supporting the youth in agribusiness to access finance in affordable and secured way and lending risk reduced way.
The continuous intervention on both sides will enhance an enabling environment for Rwanda Youth to grow their investment options, and contribute to professionalization of agriculture sector in Rwanda as envisaged by Agriculture Policy and strategies.