The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $3.5 million grant to Zimbabwe to create jobs and boost livelihoods for youth and women in artisanal mining, horticulture and dairy value chains.
The funding, to be drawn from the African Development Fund, the Bank Group's concessional window, will go to the Sustainable Enterprise Development for Women and Youth Project.
The project, which builds on the ongoing Youth and Women Empowerment Project, will facilitate linkages for 500 market stallholders to supply their products to big companies and build the capacity of some 3,000 youth to conduct viable businesses in the fruit and vegetable value chains by improving the quality and sales of their produce. The scheme will also assist over 720 small-scale miners in adding value to their mineral products.
"The support for growth-oriented enterprises for women and youth is a timely intervention as it will contribute to job creation and improved household incomes in Zimbabwe," said Martha Phiri, African Development Bank Director for Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development.
The project is expected to create more than 3,000 direct jobs and at least 6,000 indirect jobs for women and youth. It aligns with the Bank's Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy, the Gender Strategy, and the Zimbabwe Country Brief 2021-2023.
The project is one of three that the Bank is implementing in Zimbabwe under the African Development Fund 15 cycle. The other two are the Energy Sector Reform project and the Institutional Support Project for Governance and Public Finance Management.
The Bank Group's current portfolio in Zimbabwe consists of 20 operations (17 Sovereign Operations and 3 Non-Sovereign Operations) with a total value of UA 124.96 million ($174.97 million). The country also benefited from the Bank's Post Cyclone Idai Emergency Recovery and Resilience Program valued at UA17.85 million ($24.99 million) and the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project, implemented by Zimbabwe and Zambia with a value of UA 23.3 million ($32.6 million).
Contact:
Kwasi Kpodo, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: w.kpodo@afdb.org
