By Dayo Omoogun
The Central Bank of Nigeria working in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has rolled out the guidelines
for the actualisation of the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund.
The guidelines which cover such arrears as Eligibility, Tenor, Moratorium, Interest Rate, the role of stakeholders such as the CBN, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, the Ministry of Finance, the participating banks etc was released on Wednesday.
The NYIF is an initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development aimed at improving youth access to Finance, generate employment to curb youth restiveness, boost managerial capacity and develop potentials of youth. The programme is targeted at generating a minimum of half a million jobs between 2020 and 2023.
Under the unveiled guidelines, the participating Financial Institution (PFI) is the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank which is to provide the take-off seed capital of N12.5 billion.
The apex bank’s guidelines show that youth in the formal and informal sector are covered with an in-built strategy to effect the gradual transition of the informal players to the formal sector.
For the formal sector (Individuals and sole-proprietors) eligibility is for Nigerians who fall within the 18-35 years age bracket, who have business or enterprises domiciled and operational in Nigeria, who have not been convicted of any financial crime in the last 10 years. In addition, such informal applicant must have a valid Bank Verification Number (BVN) and Local Government Indigene Certificate.
In the formal category, however, the applicant must show evidence of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Other documents required to process this category are Business questionnaire, List of Directors with their BVN, evidence of regulatory approvals where applicable as well as Tax Identification Number (TIN).
Applicants who have outstanding loans with the NIRSAL Micro financial Bank or any government loan schemes are not eligible to apply.
Some of the eligible business activities are Technology, Innovation, Agriculture and Allied Value Chain, Green Economy, Renewable Energy,, Manufacturing, Hospitality/Tourism and Construction. Others are Logistics, and supply chains, Healthcare Value Chain, Creative sector, Trading and Services and any others as determined by the initiator and operator from time to time.
Unregistered businesses (individuals) who qualify will get a maximum of N250,000 while Business names, Limited Liability Companies and Cooperatives may get up to N3m.
A maximum repayment period of 5 years depending on the nature of the business with a moratorium of one year where applicable and maximum interest rate of 5 percent are some of the highlights of the operational guidelines.