The Federal Government has reaffirmed that its N50 million venture capital grant for outstanding students in Nigerian tertiary institutions remains on course, with the process of identifying and selecting qualified candidates already underway.
According to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), the initiative aims to showcase innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills among students across universities and polytechnics while promoting entrepreneurship and job creation.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, disclosed this in Abuja during a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Imeh Okon. Echono explained that each institution has begun nominating students with innovative ideas, which will be reviewed by a national committee of experts before the final selection.
He said all necessary arrangements for the programme’s take-off have been completed, including the establishment of a seed fund and the development of selection procedures. “There are students in our various TETFund beneficiary institutions who have demonstrated creative abilities and come up with products, services, or solutions ready for commercialisation. The Federal Government will create a fund to support them,” Echono said.
The venture capital fund, to be managed by the Bank of Industry (BoI), will support the development of ideas from conception to commercialisation. Echono noted that the fund would cover activities such as prototyping and proof of concept, helping students refine their innovations for market readiness.
He added that the fund is already in place and that all stakeholders have concluded preparatory meetings. “The seed funding has been provided, and the modalities for selection are already being worked out at the institutional level,” he said, adding that the first set of beneficiaries will be publicly announced once the national committee completes its review.
Echono explained that the amount awarded will depend on the scale and viability of each innovation, with the highest possible grant set at N50 million.
Initially announced in July by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the Student Grant Venture Capital Initiative targets high-achieving students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines from 300 Level and above. The programme seeks to encourage entrepreneurship and reward creativity among young Nigerians.
The grant, created through a collaboration between TETFund and BoI, is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Tayo Aduloju. Although its rollout was initially expected between September and October, the final stage of evaluation and approval is still ongoing.
For small businesses, the initiative signals a growing pipeline of youth-driven innovations that could evolve into viable startups, strengthening Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem and contributing to MSME development.
