CBN to launch entrepreneurship scheme for graduates

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it is developing a Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES) to reorient, train and finance entrepreneurship ideas among graduates of tertiary institutions.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, revealed this on Monday at the opening session of the 35th annual conference of the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) in Wudil, Kano State.

Mr Emefiele said, “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) portend great opportunities for addressing these gaps and accelerating the economic growth, leveraging our vibrant youth population.”

Emefiele who was represented by the bank’s Deputy Director of Development Finance, Dr Adebowale Idowu, the estimated 600,000 graduates from tertiary institutions entering the labour market annually to seek for already thinned white collar job along with the high rate of unemployment, there was a need for a paradigm shift to enterprise development at schools.

“The proposed partnership will also provide a platform for building digital skills that are relevant to Nigeria’s broader developmental goals.

“Accordingly, representatives from the CBN would be visiting some of our tertiary institutions across the country to harness ideas, discuss the implementation dynamics and share preliminary considerations of the proposed scheme.”

The host and Vice Chancellor of Kano State University of Science and Technology, Prof Shehu Alhaji Musa, said the theme of the conference: “Pathways to the Green Investing, Creative Funding and DARQ Technologies in Nigerian Universities”, was to address the mirage of issues confronting the university system in the country.