KIU, Western Campus – President Yoweri Museveni has launched a 36.7 billion shillings ($10 Million) funding programme from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to bolster youths in Uganda in business and entrepreneurship during the International Youth Day celebrations at State House Entebbe yesterday, August 12.

The programme, called the Youth4Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Facility (Y4BF), was announced by the UN Resident Coordinator, Rose Malango.

According to the UNDP Uganda website, the Y4BF is an initiative developed by UNDP and Stanbic Bank, to tackle youth unemployment through impact-driven innovation and entrepreneurship in sectors with a high multiplier effect on creation of jobs and livelihood opportunities.

Among the programme’s objectives are supporting youth and enterprises to pilot innovations with a commercial imperative, enabling enterprises to transform commercially viable pilot innovations into impact at scale, enabling Middle and Small and Medium Enterprises to recover faster from the impact of COVID-19 and build back better, and establishing a functional ecosystem platform to connect youth entrepreneurs to policymakers, mentors, knowledge and markets.

In his remarks, the President urged the youth to wake up from slumber and engage in wealth-creating activities, if they are to develop themselves and their communities.