Youth must change mindset to succeed in business - experts

Youth have been challenged to change their mindset if they are to succeed as entrepreneurs.“There is a need to change their mindset as regards loan acquisitions and financial management among many young business people,” Julius Mbaraga, the operations director at Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development, a business support firm, said. Mbaraga said many banks complain about bad loans among the youth “because they use the money for things that it was not meant. He added that most young people don’t know how to write business plans that can win sponsorship.Rwanda is promoting entrepreneurship, especially among the youth, through the technical and vocational education training (TVET) programme. The government hopes that the programme will help augment the country’s effort to become a self-reliant economy under the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II).Under this growth blueprint, the country targets annual growth rate of 11.5 per cent and creation of 200,000 off-farm jobs.Lydia Hakizimana, the chairperson of the Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs at the Private Sector Federation, urged the youth to take advantage of the support given by different organisations and government to acquire skills that will enable them run businesses profitably.