The Federal Government has disclosed that the disbursement of the N110 billion capital to startups and early growth stage businesses, through the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), will commence in the coming weeks.
Minister of Youth Development, Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, made this known on Thursday at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Briefings in Abuja.
This is just as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, has said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has placed a high premium development of youths across the country.
The Youth Development Minister, Ibrahim further noted that the ministry is in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to set up a ‘NextGen’ Bank to nurture youth entrepreneurs with loans and business support.
According to her, some of the ministry’s targets are to reduce the youth unemployment rate, increase youth with global market demand skills and increase youth participation in social and economic development.
“We have approval for the establishment of the Presidential Initiative on Youth Clusters in agriculture, manufacturing and ICT.
“We have 146,998 beneficiaries of targeted vocational, social inclusion, technology, agriculture, and entrepreneurship training,” Ms Bio-Ibrahim said.
According to her, the youth investment fund has been successfully restructured and expanded.
Recall that the Federal Executive Council(FEC) approved the N110 billion to revitalize the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), for the 2024 fiscal year for youth empowerment in March 2024.
“So the council has also approved the establishment of the presidential initiative for Youth enterprise clusters. The reason being that the cluster initiatives have proven to be successful when you’re inquiring and with high impact.
“Well, we are tracked for much more impact with the huge investment fund this year than the presidential initiative for the establishment of Youth enterprise clusters will identify the first six clusters to be started this year, which will activate in the coming weeks and these clusters will empower 15,000 entrepreneurs, creating up to 500,000 direct jobs and over 2 million indirect engagements for young Nigerians”, she said.
Ibrahim noted that in partnership with the Bank of Industry, the Ministry successfully set up a ‘NextGen’ Bank to nurture youth entrepreneurs with loans and business support.
The Minister maintained that the bank is a specialized financial institution which aims to support unit initiatives in strategic sectors providing vital financial services with an initial government investment, matched by contributions from the bank of industry and private sector partners.
“We will operationalize the next-gen bank by August 2024 to provide enough financial services to youth ventures and implement NYSC reforms to integrate skills development and entrepreneurship in the service here to scale up the National Youth Skills programme to train more young Nigerians,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, has assured Nigerian youths that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has high regard for them and his administration is determined to harness their potential for national development.
SGF gave the assurance when a high-level delegation from the Afro-Arab Youth Council (AAYC) led by its Secretary-General, Dr. Abbas Agaba paid him a courtesy call in his Office.
He stated that the interest of the youth is key in the heart of Mr. President as exemplified by his appointment into key positions of authority, saying that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration is youth-centric.
Akume expressed gratitude to the Council for appointing a Nigerian to serve as its Regional Coordinator in West Africa and encouraged them to continue with their good works in advancing the cause of youths across Africa.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of State for Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande, thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for giving the youth a voice in the Renewed Hope Agenda, and assured him of their support towards the actualization of his vision for a better Nigeria.
He added that the AAYC has indicated interest in extending its frontiers to Nigeria. He mentioned that all official procedures are duly followed for its ratification through the Ministry of Youth Development in conjunction with the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN).
Also speaking, the Secretary-General of the Afro-Arab Youth Council (AAYC), Dr. Abbas Agaba thanked President Tinubu for providing the enabling environment for youths to participate in governance as seen in the choice of his Cabinet members.
Agaba said the choice of a Nigerian to coordinate the Council within the West African sub-region is premised on the prominent role the country plays in Africa. He also appreciated the Nigerian for confirming Comrade Akoshile Mukhtar as its Regional Coordinator in West Africa and also appealed to the government to accord him the paraphernalia due to the Office to enable him to carry out his assignment effectively.
Part of the highlights of the visit was the conferment of the Custodian of the Afro-Arab Youth Council on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and also the presentation of its magazines to the SGF.
The Afro-Arab Youth Council (AAYC) is an International Youth organisation that works for the realization of the ideals and strategies of the African Union (AU) and the Arab League.
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