{"id":773,"date":"2025-07-17T03:15:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T03:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=773"},"modified":"2025-07-17T08:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T08:58:17","slug":"empower-bank-urges-youths-to-organise-for-access-to-funding-and-economic-empowerment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2025\/07\/17\/empower-bank-urges-youths-to-organise-for-access-to-funding-and-economic-empowerment\/","title":{"rendered":"EmpowerBank Urges Youths to Organise for Access to Funding and Economic Empowerment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Heather Buzuzi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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EmpowerBank\u2019s Manicaland Branch Manager
Costa Tavanzume<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mutare \u2013 July 17, 2025<\/strong> \u2013 EmpowerBank has called on young people in Manicaland to organise themselves into formal groups and take advantage of government-backed financial support aimed at boosting youth-led agriculture and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during a stakeholder engagement meeting facilitated by the Manica Youth Assembly (MAYA) under the Urban Future Project in Mutare last week, EmpowerBank\u2019s Manicaland Branch Manager, Costa Tavanzume, said the institution is committed to financially empowering youths across the province, but stressed the need for structure and unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are a Government bank and our mandate is to promote financial inclusion through youth empowerment towards vision 2030″, Tavanzume said. \u201cOur target is 70% youths and 30% non-youths to have a balanced portfolio. But for youths to benefit, they must speak for themselves, formulate groups, and register with the Zimbabwe Youth Council.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, themed \u201cTowards a Sustainable Green Smart City: Empowering Youth and Women for Inclusive, Climate-Resilient Food Systems,\u201d<\/em> brought together city councillors, civil society organisations, and financial institutions to dialogue with youths on sustainable urban farming and access to economic opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tavanzume explained that EmpowerBank is lowering barriers for young people to open accounts and access funding. \u201cWith as little as US$1 and proof of residence, youths can open bank accounts. Loan processing takes as little as 48 hours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dialogue, facilitated by MAYA in collaboration with HIVOS, Green Governance Trust Zimbabwe (GGZ), and the National Association of Youth Organisations (NAYO), focused on building food systems resilience and improving youth participation in agriculture and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tinashe Muzama, Programmes Officer at MAYA, said the platform was created after consultations revealed that most youths lack access to land and startup capital. \u201cWe saw a need to bring all key players to the table council, banks, and development partners  to find lasting solutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also present at the event were Mutare City Deputy Mayor Alderman John Nyamhoka, Alderman Edson Kalulu, and Councillors Sarah Manjengwa and Miriam Tandire. The councillors encouraged youths to approach the municipality formally to access land for farming and to utilise designated markets for selling produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are council-run gardens and markets already in place, but youths need to organise themselves to benefit,\u201d said Alderman Kalulu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zimbabwe Agriculture Development Trust (ZADT), another key participant, pledged to support agro-based projects by helping with proposal writing and linking youths to funding. \u201cWe work with youths and women aged 35 to 65,\u201d said Chakanyuka Manenji, ZADT\u2019s Business Development Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EmpowerBank\u2019s involvement in such dialogues highlights its growing role in youth empowerment through inclusive financial services. The bank urged young people to take the initiative by forming cooperatives or groups and applying for support to drive their agricultural ventures and economic aspirations forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Heather Buzuzi Mutare \u2013 July 17, 2025 \u2013 EmpowerBank has called on young people in Manicaland to organise themselves into formal groups and take advantage of government-backed financial support aimed at boosting youth-led agriculture and entrepreneurship. Speaking during a stakeholder engagement meeting facilitated by the Manica Youth Assembly (MAYA) under the Urban Future Project…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[39,26,36],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","tag-manica-youth-assembly","tag-mutare","tag-mutare-city-council"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}