The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the establishment of a N75billion Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to support enterprise among 68 million youths in the country.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Dare, the fund is meant to assist qualified candidates with genuine business ideas, and can approach any of the 125 micro credit banks across the country to access it.
The minister added that individuals covered by the arrangement are youths between the age of 18 and 35 years.
He said: “For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council today approved the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to the tune of N75 billion.
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“This fund is meant to create a special window for accessing credit facilities and financing on the part of our youths that will help to fund their ideas, innovations and also support their enterprise.
“The best way to call it is that for the first time the country will have a youth bank.
“The fund will cater specifically for our youths within the stipulated age bracket which is going to be between 18 and 35 years.’’
Dare assured that the scheme would not be hijacked by politicians as only genuine candidates would benefit from the funds.
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