THURSDAY, 21st October, 2021: The Central Bank of Nigeria has stated that it will support youths in various tertiary institutions in the country with grants to promote entrepreneurship and reduce unemployment.
This development was disclosed by CBN on Wednesday in a report titled, 'Guidelines for the implementation of tertiary institution entrepreneurship scheme.'
The report partly read, "Five top Nigerian polytechnics and universities with the best entrepreneurial pitches/ideas shall be awarded as follows: first place – N150m; second place – N120m; third place – N100m; fourth place – N80m; and fifth place – N50m."
It also revealed that the activities to be covered under the scheme would include innovative start-ups and existing businesses owned by graduates of Nigerian polytechnics and universities in areas such as agribusiness, information technology, creative industry as well as science and technology.
The CBN added that agribusiness would include production, processing, storage and logistics, while information technology would include application/software development, business process outsourcing, robotics and data management.
CBN further added that the creative industry would include entertainment, artwork, publishing, culinary/event management, fashion, photography, beauty/cosmetics; while science and technology would include medical innovation, robotics, ticketing systems, traffic systems, renewable energy, and waste management.
CBN said that priority would be given to innovative entrepreneurial activities with high potential for export, job creation and transformational impact.