BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
THE Central Bank of Nigeria has released the guidelines for the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund, pegging the maximun amount that can be accessed per beneficiary at N3million.
It said registered businesses (business name, limited liability, cooperative, commodity association) would be determined by activity/nature of project, subject to the maximum of N3million, including working capital.
The CBN listed NIRSAL Microfinance Bank as the eligible participating financial institution for the scheme and put the take off seed capital at N12.5bn.
It directed the bank not to charge an interest rate above five per cent per annum on the loan.
Based on the Framework for the Operation of the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Window of the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund, individual (unregistered business) shall be determined based on activity/nature of project, subject to the maximum of N250,000 credit.
The CBN, however, added that immovable assets acquired with the loan must be registered with the National Collateral Registry.
It added that tenor for loans would be for a maximum of five years, depending on the nature of the business and the assets acquired, adding that moratorium of up to one year might be allowed depending on the nature of the business and the assets acquired.
According to the guidelines, the youths that are duly screened and undergo the mandatory training where applicable, shall be advised to log on to the portal provided by the NMFB to apply for the facility.
The Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan was developed by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development as a built-in strategy to respond effectively to the youth employment challenge in Nigeria.
The major objectives of the plan are to address fragmentation of youth initiatives that prevent assessment of impact and to provide Nigerian youths with investment inputs required to build successful businesses that can become sustainable employers of labour and contributors to Nigeria’s development.
The plan targets young people between the ages of 18-35 years and details the needed actions required to support business establishment, expansion and consequent employment creation for youth in critical economic and social sectors.
According to the apex bank, the target of the NYIF is to financially empower youths to generate at least 500,000 jobs between 2020 and 2023.
The CBN added that the NMFB would leverage on the General Standing Instruction as collateral while corporate guarantees would be acceptable where applicable.
It added that upon satisfactory appraisal of applications, NMFB shall apply for release of funds in respect of approved individuals/enterprises from the NYIF and CBN.
The apex bank added that NMFB would conduct credit checks on applicants and those with unsatisfactory credit reports would be rejected.
The framework said repayment of loans would be made on instalment basis by the beneficiaries to the NMFB, according to the nature of enterprise and the repayment schedule/work plan provided and agreed at the application processing stage.
It added that to ensure equitable participation and even access to finance by the youth across the country, applications would be batched according to state and Local Government Areas of applicants.
