Join NCBA CLUSA’s Co-op Practice Area on Thursday, March 24 from 9:30-10:30 am EST for a panel discussion on how rural youth can leverage finance to unlock economic opportunities and achieve success.
Financial exclusion is one of the biggest barriers facing youth today, limiting their economic opportunities and ability to achieve success. In fact, nearly half of the world’s youth ages 15-24 remain unbanked. Youth not only confront challenges accessing capital from financial institutions; they also face barriers to the financial information and services they need to start or invest in a business, training or other asset-building activities.
The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened these realities by impacting jobs, disrupting education and increasing financial stress. Still, innovations are underway to unlock finance for youth. These ideas range from digital financial services to youth-focused financial products and other solutions to help youth transition from informal finance to formal financial products that better meet their needs.
This panel will feature success stories and lessons learned from financial inclusion work with youth in Uganda, Colombia and Peru, including from NCBA CLUSA’s MasterCard Foundation-funded Youth Empowerment through Agriculture (YETA) project in Uganda; from BANCOOMEVA, a cooperative bank in Colombia operating a youth specific portfolio; and from Rabobank Foundation.
Our panelists include:
- Etyang Naphtal, Technical Lead, USAID Kenya Empowered Youth; and former Chief of Party, Youth Empowerment through Agriculture (YETA), NCBA CLUSA
- Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea, Executive Director of the Colombian Association of Cooperatives (ASCOOP); and former Chairperson of the Board of Directors at COOMEVA Cooperative, Colombia
- Jonathan Lopez, Financial Advisor, Rabobank Foundation
Look for more details coming next week!