Malawi Rural Development Fund (Mardef) has already given out a total of K1.6 billion loans from the K3billion Youth Enterprise Development Fund (Yedef) since November even though names of beneficiaries have not been published in the newspapers.

Since the commencement of the loans, meant to empower the youth, names of beneficiaries were published in newspapers as a way of showing transparency and accountability, however, this has not been done this time.

Yedef ‘s Head of Operations Hillary Jalafi said they decided against publishing names as a cost cutting measure, but will only put up a press statement to inform people to check names of beneficiaries at District Commissioners'(DCs) and Traditional Authorities(T/ As) offices.

He said publishing names meant the fund had to spend K4 million.

“As a way forward and in order to save on costs, the Mardef Board directed that a press release should be issued out every time there are approvals telling the public that a list of beneficiaries has come out and that the names of approved beneficiaries shall be sent to the District Commissioners and Traditional Authorities offices for viewing,” Jalafi said.

He further said in order to curb past malpractices that marred the loans such as politicising and giving them to people beyond the age limit, beneficiaries will go through strict screening before accessing the loans.

“We are ensuring that all beneficiaries should be identified by our credit officers who are in all the districts of the country. These beneficiaries shall be vetted by the District Youth Officers and the Area Development Committees.

“At the District level there is a committee comprising of the District Commissioner and other expert in different fields at the district who handle the final recommendations to our regional office for final compilation and approval by management and the Board,” he said.

He also said while they used quota system to distribute the loans equitably, all applicants who presented businesses that use child labour and are environmental unfriendly have been disqualified.

“All youth in Malawi that are between 18 to 35 years are eligible to get YEDF loans. Apart from age, we also scrutinize applicant’s business plans and we encourage businesses that demonstrate ingenuity and accordingly businesses such as charcoal burning, burning of bricks using forest wood and businesses that use child labour are not eligible for YEDF support.

“Another consideration is that of equity so that all districts and constituencies should benefit,” he said.

According to Jalafi, over 62,000 youths have already benefitted from this year’s loans while past beneficiaries have started repaying loans.