The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it is developing a Tertiary Institutions’ Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES) to train and finance entrepreneurship ideas of Nigerian university graduates.
This was disclosed by CBN Governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele, on Monday at the 35th Conference of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, holding at the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST)
The CBN Governor who was represented by Dr Adebowale Olabimtan-Idowu, CBN Deputy Director, Development Finance, urged the need to re-orientate youths from waiting for white-collar jobs to entrepreneurship, adding that the scheme would be developed to support the development of entrepreneurial culture, through the introduction of seamless access to affordable finance for graduates, and create employment opportunities for Nigerian youths.
“An estimated 600,000 graduates from our tertiary institutions enter the labour market annually, after participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, seeking the already thinned out white-collar jobs.
“The situation has contributed significantly to the rising youth unemployment across the country,” Emefiele said.
He added that “Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) portend great opportunities for addressing these gaps and accelerating economic growth by leveraging our vibrant youth population.”
Emefiele disclosed that the CBN was developing the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES) to re-orientate, train and finance entrepreneurship ideas among our graduates.
“The scheme is designed to support the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and culture through the introduction of a platform that provides seamless access to affordable finance to graduates through innovative channels for participation.
“The proposed scheme will be targeted at graduates of tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, monotechnic and colleges,” the CBN governor said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that it will increase its development finance interventions to further support start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
