The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) have announced plans to deepen collaboration on youth empowerment and entrepreneurship development.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, said the partnership is vital to the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, which has trained thousands of corps members to establish businesses nationwide. He noted that SMEDAN’s support has helped corps members launch businesses that contribute to Nigeria’s GDP, boosting the national economy.
Nafiu said the NYSC remains committed to policies and initiatives that promote national unity, integration, and socio-economic development, and plans to strengthen linkages with funding institutions to improve access to loans and grants for corps entrepreneurs.
Commending SMEDAN’s role in entrepreneurship advocacy, financial literacy, skills acquisition training, and facilitation of funding, Nafiu highlighted the agency’s impact across multiple value chains.
SMEDAN Director-General, Dr Charles Odii, called for a review of the existing Memorandum of Understanding with NYSC to enhance corps members’ access to business skills and tools. He proposed the creation of a dedicated NYSC Community Development Service (CDS) group to raise awareness of SMEDAN programmes.
Odii also noted that SMEDAN currently supports over 39 million small businesses nationwide and is ready to train NYSC officials in skills that could enable them to become entrepreneurs after retirement.
The meeting signals both agencies’ commitment to strengthening youth entrepreneurship and expanding opportunities for young Nigerians through skills development and enterprise support.
