Mastercard Foundation and the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), an arm of the Pan-Atlantic University, have concluded plans to fund 40,000 youth per year in the spate of five years to ease the high rate of unemployment in the country.
The two organisations are partnering with Sterling Bank and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), to provide finance at a nine percent interest rate to all the trainees of the programme to start their respective ventures.
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Peter Bamkole, the director of EDC disclosed this in Lagos recently. He said that Mastercard Foundation is behind the initiative to train 200,000 Nigerian youths in the period of five years and to also fund the trainees adequately to start, grow, and become employers of labour as against roaming the street, looking for jobs that are not available.
“The program will also provide support and resources to young people who want to become employable in the creative and agricultural sectors,” he said.
Bankole reiterated that the idea is that as the organisations train the youths and build their capacity, Mastercard Foundation and EDC with their partners will equally support the youths as they create a minimum of 200,000 jobs.
