FirstCaribbean International Bank (Jamaica) is making a concerted effort to help young entrepreneurs get a start in the world of business by providing loan support through the Jamaica Youth Business Trust (JYBT).

For years many young entrepreneurs have bemoaned the fact that Jamaican financial institutions blithely ignore them or require conditionalities that are impossible to meet, such as putting up a home or other real estate or excessive sums as collateral, which young persons are unable to do at this stage of their lives. Indeed it is often said that if Bill Gates had been born and raised in Jamaica there would be no Microsoft. Of late there is a cry for greater productivity and more exports, and if the country is serious about this endeavour it will have to invest in its human capital and look increasingly to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Most banks have yet to recognise this – First Caribbean has.

Speaking at a “2010 Business Update” of the Jamaica Youth Business Trust at FirstCaribbean Bank’s Kingston headquarters on Knutsford Boulevard on Tuesday, Managing Director of the bank Clovis Metcalfe said that $4 million has already been disbursed to eight Jamaican businesses spanning several industries including information technlogy, agriculture, food technology and hospitality.

“Since 2008, FirstCaribbean International Bank has disbursed US$345,000 to young entrepreneurs in Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, St Vincent, St Lucia, Belize, Trinidad& Tobago and Antigua. The funding was provided through the Caribbean Association of Youth Business Programmes, an affiliate of the Youth Business International, a global network of youth business programmes which provides loan funding and mentorship to young people ages 18-30, and has his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales as its patron.

“FirstCaribbean International Bank is committed to the fostering of an entrepreneurial spirit among young people in the region as a means of combatting youth poverty and unemployment.”

At the meeting Andrew Johnson, a pepper farmer based in Spanish Town who received funding through the initiative, said: ” I was at the bottom of the table and was given an opportunity because the Jamaica Youth Business Trust saw potential in me and backed me. The Jamaica Youth Business Trust is the greatest thing in all of Jamaica. You see me here today without jacket and tie, yet I was given a chance to grow my business.”

Young Andrew has a $1 million contract with Grace Kennedy to provide them with peppers.There is also an option to renew the contract, provided all goes well. Andrew is harvesting from 1,400 pepper trees.

Metcalfe went on to add that the Jamaica Youth Business Trust complements the activities of the bank’s dedicated small business unit formed to assist in the development of small and medium enterprises in Jamaica which can make a significant impact both in terms of the country’s gross domestic product and direct employment.

The maximum loan facility provided by the JYBT is J$500,000 and it is hoping that more Caribbean finance houses will come on board and so allow it to increase its leding facility.

Chairman of the JYBT David Clarke told Caribbean Business Report : “This is a great way for young entrepreneurs to get started. In Barbados we have funded 500 businesses in 14 years and seen a very low default rate. It is not just about providing loans, we also offer a mentorship programme and seek to assist in guiding the young people’s ventures to success. To succeed in business one has to employ certain habits and it is vitally important that young entrepreneurs know and follow those habits.

“Once young business owners regularly honour their loan commitments and manage their businesses well we can then recommend them to a larger lending institution , confident that they have what it takes to make the enterprise succeed. It is very important to build up a track record and have someone vouch for you.”

Another JYBT beneficiary who attended the meeting was Kaodie Ambursely of Cellular Paradise which is based at 112 Old Hope Road, Kingston. This young man has a talent for customising mobile telephones, and his company offers a raft of mobile telephone services including repairs, the unlocking of mobile phones and “flashing” (dealing with software problems).

“Our congratulations to David Clarke, Chairman of the JYBT and his team for the stewardship of the programme thus far and to the eight Jamaican entrepreneurs who have already benefited from JYBT loans, and are well on their way to making a positive contribution to their families, their communities and the wider Jamaica”, said the FirstCaribbean Bank boss.