Youth unemployment continues to be a developmental challenge not only in Uganda but in
several sub Saharan countries. At least 64 percent of the total unemployed persons are youth
aged 18-30 years. As the government struggles to look for solutions to the unemployment
challenge, one approach has been the promotion of self-employment through the
establishment of National Youth Funds. Specifically, the Youth Venture Capital Fund (UYVCF)
worth UGX 25bn (about US$ 10 million) was introduced in 2011 and more recently, in
September 2013, government significantly boosted youth schemes by allocating UGX 265
billion (about US$ 100 million) to the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) over a five-year
period. The major pillars of these initiatives are: enterprise development, job creation and
business skills training and development. Using the UYVCF as a case study, this study examines
the level and determinants of youth participation in the fund and evaluates the operations
of the fund against the initial guidelines and design as stipulated in the Aide memoire1
between the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (MFPED) and the
participating banks. The study majorly relied on secondary data provided by Centenary Bank,
the largest commercial bank participating in the fund and was complemented by a survey
of beneficiaries as well as potential beneficiaries. The data sourced from the commercial
bank provides an overview of the fund beneficiaries by basic socio economic characteristics
while the field survey data was used to compare the activities of beneficiaries vis a vis nonbeneficiaries.