Abuja, May 23, 2024 – Jamila Bio-Ibrahim, the Minister for Youth Development, says the federal government is to start disbursing the N110 billion youth empowerment fund approved in the 2024 budget.
The minister disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Update to mark the first anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
She said the fund would soon be disbursed after a successful restructuring of the Youth Investment Fund in the ministry.
“We want to institutionalise the fund. We will improve on it to ensure that it is sustainable.
“We are on track for maximum impact of the youth investment fund this year. In the following weeks, disbursement of the approved N110 billion will commence.”
The minister also said the Federal Executive Council had approved the establishment of the Presidential initiative of the Youth Entrepreneurship Clusters to create direct jobs and over indirect engagements for young Nigerians.
“We have identified the first six clusters which we will activate in the coming weeks. And these clusters will empower 50, 000 entrepreneurs, creating 500, 000 jobs and over 2 million indirect engagements for young Nigerians.
She also said the ministry planned to establish the NextGen Bank, a specialised financial institution, which aims to “support youth-led initiatives in strategic sectors, providing vital financial services with an initial government investment of N5 billion, marched by contributions from the Bank of Industry and private sector partners.”
Ibrahim said the Ministry has initiated a National Youth Skills programme to train 300,000 National Youth Corps members and 700,000 young people outside the NYSC scheme in the informal sector.
The minister said the skills programme would serve as the administration’s non-kinetic approach to solving challenges of insecurity. (GBN)
