Zambia has launched a ZMK30 million youth empowerment fund that aims to help artists mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Presidential Arts Development and Empowerment Scheme’s main programme comprises a revolving fund that will provide loans to arts businesses and practising artists who are registered members of national arts associations in Zambia.
Loan amounts range from ZMK2 000 to ZMK1 million, payable within one to six years, depending on the amount.
As reported by the Lusaka Times, Zambia’s Minister of Tourism and Arts, Ronald Chitotela, said at the launch of the scheme that approval of the funding (in addition to other support measures for the sector) was ‘a strategic decision that was made in the wider context of the Seventh National Development Plan to diversify the economy and expand job opportunities for youths’.
The scheme will be implemented by the National Arts Council of Zambia under the Ministry of Tourism and Arts, and the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission will act as the fund manager. Applications will be accepted until end-September 2020.
