By Mordi Chukwunonso Esther
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development through the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) has disbursed N165.7 million to 239 beneficiaries.The ministry said it is processing over three million applications so far received.
The Fund, approved by the Federal Executive Council on July 22, 2020, is being implemented in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and disbursed through the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Microfinance Bank – NMFB.
The application data showed that 3,120,107 (3.1m) Nigerians have registered for the NYIF Pre-Assessment/Training to benefit from the N75 billion three-year financing for youth owned businesses and ideas.
The youth ministry said from the about 1,000 applications processed as part of the pilot disbursement, 94 were disqualified from the NYIF loan after training, as a result of existing COVID-19 or the Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) loan that they have benefitted from.
“A total of 500 applicants have been invited by NMFB to apply for the NYIF loan after training and successful due process check while loan application by the applicants is at various times and the application is open until the applicants are able to provide all the requirements and complete the process.
“Out of the 500 invited for the loan application, only a total of 393 have completed the loan application process and applied for the loan out of which a total of 293 applied early and their loan was processed and sent to CBN for approval at a total sum of N191.7m.”
On approval by CBN, a total of 239 have been successfully disbursed at a total sum of N165.7m. The ministry also clarified why 239 persons have gotten the loan from the 293 persons.
“It was because transfer failed to the account numbers of the affected applicants, due to the type of their account that does not receive deposit beyond a certain sum and system failure. These will be contacted and the process repeated.
“The relatively low number of trained beneficiaries compared to the number of applications was as a result of the non-availability of funds as there was no budgetary provision for the exercise in the year 2020, which compelled the Ministry to provide the training within its existing capacity instead of using Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (EDIs).
The process announced by the Ministry showed that applicants that have been screened for basic Know Your Customer (KYC) and confirmed as not presently benefitting from similar initiatives from government would be invited to submit business proposals.
Proposals that meet the requirements for the loans would be selected for the free training and then they will be given the loans ranging from N250,000 for individuals to N3m for registered businesses.
