Over 1000 Nigerians will this year be beneficiaries of N500Million Naira Grant seed capital set aside for young Nigerian entrepreneurs and students.
The Young Entrepreneurs & Students Grant (YESGrant) is targeted at Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 and will run in five cycles over five years. The main objectives of the programme are to create jobs through young entrepreneurs and encourage high-impact Research & Development programmes that add value and lasting positive change to the Nigerian economy.
Entrepreneurs will be supported to develop and execute their business ideas. This will lead to accelerated job creation in Nigeria and encourage the culture of self-reliance. The programme will support both existing and aspiring entrepreneurs through a platform that showcases their business concepts, skills and aspirations to business leaders, investors and mentors all around the world.
This was disclosed during the launch of the YESGrant Scheme by the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) in partnership with Heritage Bank, which took place recently at the Four Point Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.
The event, which was very well attended by dignitaries, including representatives from the Nigerian University Commission (NUC), National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) e.t.c
Eligibility Criteria
The Entrepreneur YESGrant is a grant to your business and NOT A LOAN.
To apply for the grant, the owner of the business applying must be a Nigerian between the ages of 18 and 40 and must be a registered member of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF).
The innovative idea of the entrepreneur must be from one of the following sectors:
- Agriculture
- Creative Economy (Fashion, Photography, Creative Arts, Music and Film Entertainment)
- Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
To access the grant, the business must be registered with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The entrepreneur must open a corporate account with Heritage Bank Nigeria (the YESGrant Partner) prior to disbursement.
Owner of the business must sign a legal agreement between the beneficiary company and NYPF.
Application Process
- Award recipients must be registered members of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF). As a registered member, you will be assigned a unique identification number with which you will use to log into the application platform.
- Applications for funding by the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (YESGrant) pass through a two-stage application process:
- Concept Note stage
- Evaluation stage
- The Concept Note stage entails completing a form online and a brief summary of the proposed business idea for which grant funding support is being required for. This is the first stage of the Application process.
- The Evaluation stage requires shortlisted applicants to be interviewed face to face by a team of independent industry specialists.
