In providing a solution to graduate unemployment in the country, Bank of Industry (BoI) and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have launched the N2 billion Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF).
Speaking at the launching of the fund in Lagos, yesterday, the managing director of BoI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa said, job creation in Nigeria has not kept pace with the growth in the working age population.
According to him, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported each year, about 1.8 million young Nigerians enter the already saturated labour market, adding that over 50 per cent of youths in Nigeria are unemployed.
Olaoluwa said that the NYSC Directorate has put in efforts in promoting an entrepreneurial mindset among NYSC members through its Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) initiative.
He noted that in tackling unemployment among youth, innovative approach is required, saying, “The strategy is to identify the innate talents of the young graduates as soon as they leave school, build their capacities for self-reliance, and also empower them to establish their own businesses, thereby creating jobs not just for themselves, but also for other youths that they may employ.”
Highlighting the component of the Fund, Olaoluwa said, there will be selection and screening of 1,000 NYSC members that will participate in the capacity building process through an online business idea competition which will enable them to develop their own bankable business plans, which will form the basis for loan consideration, saying “Medium to long-term loans at single digit interest rates will be provided.”
He added that the capacity building component of the programme will be implemented in partnership with the NYSC Directorate and shall be facilitated by the NYSC SAED Department and nine BOI partner Entrepreneurship Development Centres/Training Consultants which will be undertaken in the six geopolitical zones of the country and Lagos State.
He stated that the total amount available for lending under GEF is N2 billion, adding that each beneficiary of GEF can access a minimum loan of N500,000 and a maximum of N2 million for the procurement of machinery and equipment as well as for working capital, at a single digit interest rate of nine per cent, with a loan tenor of three to five years inclusive of six months moratorium.
By Olushola Bello of http://www.leadership.ng/
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