The Bank of Industry (BOI) has unveiled a ₦2 billion entrepreneurship programme designed to empower National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members with access to affordable, single-digit interest loans, in a bid to curb youth unemployment and promote enterprise development across Nigeria.
The initiative, tagged the “₦2bn BOI–NYSC Entrepreneurship Programme,” was launched on Wednesday in Abuja. It allows serving corps members to access up to ₦5 million each at a nine per cent annual interest rate, repayable over three years, with a three-month moratorium on both principal and interest payments.
Speaking at the event, BOI Managing Director Olasupo Olusi, represented by Executive Director for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shekarau Omar, said the programme reflects the bank’s commitment to transforming Nigerian youth “from job seekers to job creators.”
“These loans are not handouts — they are opportunities for young Nigerians to turn their ideas into thriving businesses,” Omar said. “When young people receive capacity building, affordable finance, and mentorship, they repay, they employ, and they grow.”
Omar highlighted that the initiative builds upon earlier collaborations between the BOI and NYSC, including the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF) launched in 2015, which trained over 3,000 graduates, financed 609 businesses, and disbursed over ₦1 billion in loans.
He urged corps members to seize the opportunity, describing the service year as a “launch pad, not a waiting room.”
“Start small, plan well, and stay disciplined. With creativity and determination, you can become the next generation of entrepreneurs shaping Nigeria’s future,” he advised.
The BOI executive added that the programme’s success would be measured by the number of businesses financed, jobs created, and ventures sustained beyond the service year, affirming the bank’s dedication to building a resilient, youth-driven economy.
In his remarks, NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Olakunle Nafiu, lauded the initiative as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s future, emphasizing that empowering youth through entrepreneurship is critical to national stability.
“This is not just credit — it is confidence,” Nafiu said. “Confidence that the ideas of young Nigerians are worth investing in, and that our future business leaders are already among us.”
Nafiu urged BOI to expand the fund to ₦5 billion to accommodate more beneficiaries, adding that the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) department has been strengthened to ensure that every corps member leaves service as either a business owner or a workplace-ready professional.
“We are not just building skills; we are building livelihoods for all 400,000 young Nigerians who pass through the NYSC annually,” he added.
The BOI–NYSC partnership, which began in 2012 with the SAED initiative and expanded through the 2015 Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund, continues to evolve as part of national efforts to tackle youth unemployment — which, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, still affects over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s unemployed population.
The new loan scheme, both institutions say, is not merely a financial intervention but a bold statement of faith in the creativity, innovation, and resilience of Nigerian youth.
