President Lungu’s Full Speech at the Launch of K470 million Youth Fund

I am very delighted to interact with the Zambian youth who possess the energy and intuition that can unlock the country’s development potential for sustainable socio-economic growth.

My government remains fully committed to unlocking the potential of the Zambian youth in order to harness the demographic dividends. Our great nation – Zambia, has very high potential for growth due to its vast human and natural resource endowment.

In this regard, I wish to welcome you all the young men and women that have found time to interact with us at this event. From the onset, I want to express my delight at being part of this very important occasion which is aimed at consolidating the implementation of youth empowerment programmes across government ministries, provinces and spending agencies.

Ladies, gentlemen and the youth,

This approach is in line with the government’s policy of delivering services in clusters as opposed to the silo approach. This is more effective and reduces the time that the youth spend moving from one office to the other. You the young people have the energy and capability for unlocking the country’s development potential. It is for this very reason that my government remains committed to ensuring that we provide the necessary skills to ensure that you are able to utilize those skills to create wealth and eradicate poverty in our country, without leaving anyone behind.

However, I am aware that skills alone may not bring about the desired change, it has to be accompanied by other inputs and support systems such as access to land, affordable financing, start-up tools, or other materials that will help you the young people to start up a successful business. To this end, government has allocated a total amount of K470 million for youth empowerment to the ministry of youth, sport and child development targeting 150,000 beneficiaries.

As it has already been mentioned, the theme for today’s event is “Youth, the Key to National Development.” The theme appropriately recognizes that today’s young people constitute the majority of our population and have the ability to build a prosperous country. Our challenge is to harness this potential to enable the youth contribute positively to the country’s socio-economic development.

I strongly believe that the youth have the right to ask government questions about their welfare. This is the more reason we are here today, to answer to your problems and ensure that you remain productive for your own benefit and for the benefit of our country. As a responsible government, the patriotic front government, our job is to listen and address the issues that the youth raise. This, therefore, should be the primary duty of each and every civil servant or public employee.

My dear youths,

My government, which is your government, has heard your calls to be given opportunities to better your lives as well as contribute to national development. Today’s event is, therefore, not an accident. It has been organized to respond to the various issues that the youth have raised at various fora. In this regard, I have directed the various ministries responsible for providing empowerment for the youth to work together, through the ministry of youth sport and child development, so that these services are available to you using a multi-sectoral approach.

Government’s duty is to leverage its resources at its disposal so that you get the maximum benefit from our interaction. Consequently, government has adopted a multisectoral approach to addressing the issues facing our young people. I do not want to see the youth being made to shuttle from one office to the other without being attended to.

Let me put it on record that, government officials are employed to serve you and not the other way round. Therefore, the multi sectoral approach that the various ministries are demonstrating here today should not end up at provincial level but should be replicated at the district level. This is very much in line with the decentralization policy.

My dear youths,

I remain convinced that you as the youth of this country, have the ability to rise above the challenges that you are encountering today. What you need is support for innovation, start-up capital and, in some cases, the requisite tools. However, you also need to demonstrate that you are willing to participate and contribute to your own wellbeing because you have the responsibility to do so. As the saying goes “God helps those who help themselves.” This motto emphasizes the importance of initiative and self-agency.

In short, it calls for one to be creative and willingness for one to contribute to changing their status. Therefore, our youths need to work together with your patriotic front government in order to make the positive change that we need in our country.

As part of your government’s initiatives to facilitate practical empowerment and employment activities, my government will enroll apprentices and interns to enable them acquire the necessary experience that hinders them from applying for certain job categories because of the requirements for prior experience. This programme aims at reaching out to over 9,000 youths across the country in the next two (2) years. The youths will be provided with a monthly stipend to enable them meet some of their needs as they go about their business.

In general agriculture and livestock production, my government will continue to provide land to the youths that are interested in taking up agriculture as a serious business and not as a part time activity. To this end, the ministry of lands and natural resources has issued instructions to all the local authorities to make land accessible for the young people across the country. This is not only restricted to state land, but also extends to traditional land.

In addition, the ministry of livestock and fisheries is implementing empowerment programmes in aquaculture and animal husbandry. Do not focus on one stream of income, learn to diversify your businesses, that way you have better chances of surviving should you be exposed to negative effects of climate change.

As some of you will recall, in my address to the youth during the national youth forum held at the mulungushi international conference centre on 11th march this year, I emphasised that the market for agriculture products in this region is immense. Further, I pointed out that agriculture and agri-business is a sure way of creating jobs and wealth for the youth. This has not changed at all and the market is still available. It is not an easy undertaking but, again, nothing comes for free – you must be willing to work hard in order to attain your goals and live a comfortable life. There are no shortcuts!

In the are of mining, government has listened to the calls for the youths to get actively engaged in the mining of our mineral wealth so that we retain the proceeds from the sale of our precious minerals within the borders of our country. To this end, the ministry of mines has commenced the process of supporting youth cooperatives with the requisite training and mining equipment.

We want to see the youth cooperatives grow into large corporations that can provide employment to their fellow youths. Yes, the youth have the ability to grow their organisations into large corporate entities. What they need is the right motivation and guidance. Government stands ready to provide the necessary leadership and guidance.

My dear youths,

We have seen a number of young people with innovative ideas but fail to fully develop these ideas as a result of limited investment in research and development. We need to change our mindsets and invest more into research and development if we are looking to accelerate our economic development. Our young people are very innovative and we must believe in them. Let us not depend on young people from other countries to find solutions for us – our youth have the ability to provide locally grown solutions.

In this regard, I have directed the ministries of higher education and youth, sport and child development to expedite the process of identifying and supporting scientific innovations so that the brilliant young people can see their innovative ideas come true.

I equally urge the private sector to take keen interest in the innovations by the young men and women and put aside resources to support innovative ideas. You equally stand to benefit as enterprises and as members of the community. I also call upon the youth not to feel embarrassed and shy away from experimenting – failing is part of gaining experience. Never forget that!!

Dear youths,

I am aware that the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has had negative effects on our economy and that your enterprises have not been spared. In order to cushion the impact of covid-19 on your enterprises, my government through the ministries of tourism and arts and youth, sport and child development, has set aside stimulus funds to support your businesses.

The aim of the funds is to provide capital to micro, small and medium enterprises to remain profitable so as to avert the negative impact of the pandemic.

I encourage you to utilize these funds prudently as they are meant to be a revolving fund so that your friends can equally benefit from the same.

As we continue the implementation of a multi-sectoral approach to youth empowerment, I direct ministry of youth, sport and child development to develop a comprehensive communication strategy which will ensure that the youth access the required information. Let us not leave anyone behind – the strategy should take into account the youths in the hard to reach areas so that government programmes are spread to all parts of the country.

Ladies, gentlemen and beloved youths,

I wish to reassure the youth that your future is still very bright, bringing with it the promise of a Zambia which has shared prosperity, of equal opportunity for all, and where you the youth are its greatest asset.

While government has developed specific programmes for the youth, we still need to dialogue with you, we need to hear your views and take them into account. Please give us your innovative ideas and we assure you that we will promote small and medium scale youth enterprises and help those that want to start their businesses.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen and our beloved the youths,

As I conclude, I wish to reiterate that the implementation of empowerment programmes will not only be accessed from the ministry headquarters in lusaka but should be accessed at district level where the youth are found. The provincial and district officials need to be proactive to ensure that this becomes a reality. For the youth, my message to you is seize the opportunities as they present to you.

I also want to take this opportunity to urge my dear youth not to accept to be used as agents of evil and hate in this peace-loving country. We have always known our youth as productive people who are there for their country. As we head to the general elections next year, do not accept to be used for violence because violence will just destroy our country. As your government, the patriotic front government, we remain ready to work with you for the betterment of our country.

It is now my honour and privilege to re-launch the multi sectoral approach to youth empowerment.

God bless our country, Zambia

God bless all of us, I thank you.