The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to offer loans to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members for a 7-year tenor. The loan is intended for the purpose of establishment of small and medium scale enterprises.
This was disclosed by the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in his office while receiving the Director-General of the NYSC, Brig. Shuaibu Ibrahim, in Abuja.
The Aim: Emefiele noted that the loan disbursement was developed out of the need to curb the rate of unemployment in the country. He advised that corps members should attend the bank’s entrepreneurship training centres for skills acquisitions in various vocational areas for economic survival after passing out from the service scheme.
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The CBN Governor added that the loans would be disbursed to the corps members to provide the needed support to the rent of business offices or workshop and also to acquiring working tools.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has expressed willingness to provide further opportunities of self-employment for corps members through its skill acquisition training. The CBN governor explained that upon completion of training, beneficiaries would get the cumulative value which represents a loan that would be repaid within seven years with a two-year moratorium.”
The Central Bank Governor further hinted that an entrepreneurship program “Youth Entrepreneurship Development Program (YEDP)” was launched by the bank in 2016, and has served as a propelling platform to the empowerment of youth corps members and other youths across the country for the purpose of wealth creation and self-employment.
Emefiele promised that the CBN National Microfinance Bank will support any corps member who is interested in financing their business.
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Collaborative Youth Empowerment: In his response, Brig. Shuaibu Ibrahim of the NYSC said the visit was intended to enhance more robust collaborations with the Central Bank in the area of empowering youth corps entrepreneurs while requesting for the apex bank’s support in providing more skills acquisitions centres across all zones and modern equipment for the NYSC farms located in various parts of the country.
The Bottom line: Entrepreneurship is the driving force of any developing economy. This is why this collaborative effort between the CBN and NYSC is a positive step towards capacity development. It will help to curb the high rate of unemployment in the country.