Plant One Tree

As part of the 30 youth-led organizations under the incubation of Youth Power Hub, Plant One Tree had the honor to attend yet another Pitso Session purported to explore and understand challenges the youth face in pursuit of financial assistance from banking systems, grants and donations and many sources of income.

At the dialogue, the youth expressed that part of their challenges are the banking systems and their requirements. Most of financial institutions require collateral and this becomes a setback for start-ups. Also, when applying for grants, one of the requirements is track record and proper bookkeeping, part of which becomes a setback for manufacturing businesses as they require costly machinery that would otherwise be easy to buy through loans and many more options.

For NGOs, it's difficult to access funds from corporates because they opt to support sports as they get tax reduction when they do.

Recommendation to RSL:

To enhance greening corporates by reducing tax when they support youth-led initiatives in the green space as well. This will promote compliance to their environmental and health policies.