CBN ENCOURAGES ENTREPRENEUR SKILLS
The Central Bank of Nigeria said it had set aside a total sum of N2.5bn for members of the National Youth Service Corps with good Entrepreneurial ideas.
The N2.5bn which was set aside out of the N220bn
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development fund would be disbursed to the
youth corp members under the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme.
The CBN is targeting to create a total of one
million jobs through the YEDP which is the initiative of the apex bank launched
on March 15 this year by the CBN Governor,Mr Godwin Emefiele.
The purpose of the program is to address the
challenges of youth unemployment in the country.
Under the program, the apex bank in collaboration
with Heritage Bank Plc would develop the entrepreneurial capacity of the youths
as well as provide them with fund of a maximum of N3m each to operate a
business
The activities to be covered under the
programme are startups and expansion projects in agricultural value chain (fish
farming, poultry and snail farming), cottage industry, mining and solid
minerals.
Others are tourism, arts and crafts, information
and communications technology and any other activity that may be determined by
the CBN.
Speaking during the event at the NYSC camp in
Abuja, Emefiele said the initiative would enable the CBN conserve the huge
foreign exchange which had been spent in importing food items.
He said each Corp member is entitled to N3m adding
that their discharge certificate as well their degree certificate would be used
as collateral to secure the loan.
He said, “It is not a grant and it is a loan that
must be paid. We are determined to give support to the youth and I truly must
thank the National Youth Service Corps who has helped us to put together the
first set of NYSC, so that we can nurture them as young entrepreneurs,
not as people who go into the world looking for jobs.
“We want to nurture them as people who are
developing the entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial skills, not only for
their good but also for the good of the country.
He expressed optimism that the Corp member would
not default in repaying the loan owing to the fact that they would not want to
lose their certificate for a loan of N3m.
He added, “We do not anticipate that any of them
fails. However, we have as collateral their NYSC certificate as well as
their degree certificate. We know that our youths know the importance of their
degree certificates as well as their NYSC certificate as collateral for
this loan.
“I don’t think that somebody who has got a degree
certificate or HND certificate to attain a gainful employment or a
gainful life will abandon his certificate or his NYSC discharge certificate
just because he wants to take a loan and not pay.”
The Director General, NYSC, Brigadier-General Sule
Kazaure, commended the CBN for initiating the program for corps members.
He said a total of 1,500 corps members are
participating in the entrepreneurship training program across the country.
He said 180 participants in the scheme are in
Abuja; Plateau, 130; Katsina State, 208; Enugu State,160; Akwa Ibom 227; Osun
State, 271; and Lagos State, 179.
CBN ENCOURAGES ENTREPRENEUR SKILLS
Reviewed by adeyemo nathaniel
on
Thursday, June 30, 2016
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