A New Initiative to Empower Nigerian Youth
The Bank of Industry (BOI) has introduced a N2bn entrepreneurship programme designed to offer affordable, single-digit interest loans to National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members throughout Nigeria. This initiative aims to address unemployment and encourage youth-led enterprises.
The programme was launched on Wednesday in Abuja, offering serving corps members access to up to N5m each at an annual interest rate of nine per cent. The repayment period is three years, with a three-month moratorium on both principal and interest payments.
Dr. Olasupo Olusi, the BOI Managing Director, represented by the Executive Director for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shekarau Omar, highlighted that this scheme is a practical intervention aimed at transforming young Nigerians “from job seekers to job creators.”
Omar explained that the initiative builds upon previous collaborations between the BOI and the NYSC, such as the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund launched in 2015. This earlier initiative trained over 3,000 graduates, financed 609 businesses, and disbursed more than N1bn in loans.
“These numbers are not just statistics,” he said. “They represent poultry farms, fashion houses, tech start-ups, and creative studios brought to life. The core lesson is clear: when young people receive targeted capacity building, affordable finance, and mentoring, they repay, they employ, and they grow.”
He encouraged corps members to take advantage of the opportunity, describing the service year as a “launch pad, not a waiting room.”
“To our corps members, start small, plan well, and stay disciplined about cash flow and compliance. With creativity and determination, you can become the next generation of entrepreneurs shaping Nigeria’s future,” he added.
Omar praised the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development department for its ongoing efforts to empower young Nigerians, noting that the new loan scheme would enhance its impact.
The BOI executive stated that the success of the initiative would be measured by the number of approvals granted, jobs created, and businesses that continue to thrive beyond the service year. He also emphasized the bank’s commitment to building a stronger, more resilient economy.
Strategic Investment in the Future
Speaking at the event, the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Nafiu, described the initiative as a strategic investment in the country’s future. He noted that failure to invest in youth development poses greater risks to national stability.
“This event reaffirms a shared vision between two great institutions, the NYSC, which symbolises the nation’s faith in its youth, and the Bank of Industry, which for decades has stood as a pillar of Nigeria’s industrial and enterprise growth,” he said.
Nafiu recalled that the NYSC–BOI partnership dates back to 2012, when both institutions launched the SAED initiative to promote self-reliance among corps members. He explained that the new loan scheme forms part of ongoing efforts to reposition SAED to ensure every corps member leaves service as either a business owner or a workplace-ready professional.
“Our goal is simple yet ambitious: to ensure that every corps member emerges from the service year equipped for both physical and remote work environments,” he said. “We are not just building skills; we are building livelihoods for all 400,000 young Nigerians who pass through the NYSC programme annually.”
The NYSC boss urged BOI to expand the fund to N5bn to accommodate more beneficiaries, describing the intervention as a demonstration of confidence in the potential of Nigerian youth.
“This is not just credit; it is confidence, confidence that the ideas of young Nigerians are worth investing in, and that our future business leaders are already among us,” Nafiu said.
He stressed that NYSC had put in place robust monitoring mechanisms to ensure transparency and impact, while calling for sustained collaboration between public and private institutions to unlock the nation’s entrepreneurial potential.
A Decade of Partnership
The BOI–NYSC partnership has evolved over more than a decade, beginning with the 2012 SAED initiative and later the 2015 Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund. Both programmes were designed to reduce youth unemployment by combining business training with access to affordable finance.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate, which stood at 33.3 per cent in 2020, remains among the highest in Africa, with the youth population accounting for over 60 per cent of the unemployed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
