CBN Awards N5m Loans To Graduates Under New Scheme

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme designed to tackle underemployment and unemployment in the country.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, at the launch in Abuja, on Thursday, November 25, presented loans ranging from N4.1m to N5m to graduates who applied and were selected.

Emefiele said: “The scheme, developed in partnership with Nigerian polytechnics and universities, is designed to harness the potentials of graduate entrepreneurs by creating a paradigm shift from the pursuit of white-collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship for economic development and job creation.”

He noted that it had become imperative that government at all levels put in place policy measures to support entrepreneurial development among youths amid the lack of adequate employment opportunities.

The governor said such measures would create an enabling business ecosystem that supports innovation and enables the youth to unleash their entrepreneurial potential, by redirecting their focus from seeking white-collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship development.

He added: “The ecosystem should provide support in re-orientating, training, and providing a financing model apt to the peculiarity of the sector within which the businesses operate.”