December 12, (THEWILL) – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES) . It is designed to catch budding entrepreneurs full of bankable ideas and energy to pursue their dreams. This is one of the policies and programmes of the CBN announced in 2019 to create 10 million jobs in five years. More so, the initiative was in response to President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty through job creation and economic diversification.
Designed to address unemployment, underemployment and consequently encourage entrepreneurial interest and skills particularly in youths, the TIES intervention programme of the CBN seeks to stem the tide of graduates chasing white-collar jobs and those aspiring to leave the country in search of greener pastures.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the scheme is developed in partnership with Nigerian polytechnics and universities to harness the potentials of graduate entrepreneurs by creating a paradigm shift from the pursuit of white-collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship for economic development and job creation.
According to the Emefiele, the Central Bank is collaborating with some tertiary institutions to develop entrepreneurship programmes, and to support entrepreneurial-interested graduates and undergraduates with provision of access to finance. The CBN boss added that engagements are ongoing between CBN and the management of some of the institutions to develop a framework for an innovative financing model that will support entrepreneurship development among our graduates and undergraduates.
The implementation guidelines for TIES were released in October and the portal, opened for submission of applications.
As a first step, the CBN requested that the authorities of the selected institutions provide lands from their large real estate. By providing lands for students to test their entrepreneurial desires before graduation, the institutions will help the graduates hone up their entrepreneurial spirit.
“With about 600,000 students graduating yearly from Nigerian tertiary institutions, and without commensurate employment opportunities in both public and private sectors, it has become imperative that governments, at all levels, put in place policy measures to support entrepreneurial development among our youths”, Emefiele said.
Such measures, he argued, would create an enabling business ecosystem that supports innovation and enables the youth to unleash their entrepreneurial potential, by redirecting their focus from seeking white-collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship development.
The ecosystem should provide support in re-orientating, training, and providing a financing model apt to the peculiarity of the sector within which the businesses operate.
With an estimated population of 213 million, two-thirds of which are youths, aged under 35 years, Nigeria, Emefiele stated, “is faced with a historic opportunity, particularly as the demography continues to create clear evidence of their relevance to economic development, as accentuated by the global recognition of Nigerian tech start-ups and continued growth of businesses in the technology space owned by the youth.”
The implementation guidelines for TIES were released in October and the portal, opened for submission of applications. More so, the scheme is designed to address three segments which include the Term Loan, Equity Investment and Developmental Grant component.
A Body of Experts (BoE) has been constituted to evaluate and rank entrepreneurial presentations made by tertiary institutions under the Developmental Grant Component. Members of the BoE include, Abubakar Suleiman of Sterling Bank as Chairman of the Body, Mrs Temitope Akin-Fadeyi (CBN) as secretary and Patrick Iyamabo (First Bank), Adamu Lawani (Zenith Bank), Ms Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo (Rand Merchant Bank), Ashafa Ladan (National Universities Commission), Abbati D.K. Muhammad (National Board for Technical Education),Friday Okpara (SMEDAN), Tope Fasua (Global Analytics Consulting), Brigadier-General Folusho Oyinlola (National Defence College) and Ms Bolanle Adekoya (PWC) as members of the Body.
CBN’s Director of Development Finance, Philip Yila said that Agric is the priority of President Buhari and the Governor of the Central Bank, Emefiele as they are also looking at things that will contribute to export and employ more people over time.
The TIES Programme if judiciously implemented, will aid other youths in their thousands with the capacity to tremendously transform the agricultural industry for better and with the hunger to make the best of their lives while impacting their space with all they possess.
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