By Precious Mark
Jamila Bio Ibrahim, the Minister of Youth Development, has announced that the disbursement of the N110 billion capital to startups and early growth stage businesses, via the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) will commence in the coming weeks.
The minister stated this at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Briefings in Abuja on Thursday, saying 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. Reason being that the cluster initiatives have proven to be successful when you’re inquiring and with high impact,” she said.
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“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 emphasized.
In partnership with the Bank of Industry, Jamila also stated the successful set up of a ‘NextGen’ Bank to nurture youth entrepreneurs with loans and business support.
She stressed 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 program to train more young Nigerians”, the minister said.
The minister announced the establishment of a Committee, to drive comparative reforms within the National University, Entrepreneurship and economically beneficial programs for young graduates, and Skills Development programs.
The Minister emphasized the Commencement of robust NYSC reforms including skills building to better position Youth Corps members.
“The National Youth Skills program we have initiated to train 300,000 NYSC corps members and 700,000 young people outside the NYSC scheme,” she stressed.
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According to the minister, a total of 146,998 youth have received training in areas such as vocational skills, social inclusion, technology, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, as part of efforts to equip them with valuable skills and promote their overall development.
She drew attention to the comprehensive review and expansion of the National Youth Policy, which now encompasses critical areas such as Climate Change, Blue Economy, Mental Health, and Migration.
In conclusion, the minister noted that the past year has been a testament to unwavering commitment to youth development, with numerous notable achievements, as they celebrate the first anniversary under the guidance of the President.
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