The African Development Bank (AfDB) has sanctioned a substantial loan of $100 million to bolster the entrepreneurial efforts of Nigerian youth and women through the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) initiative. This initiative is strategically designed to stimulate economic expansion and generate employment opportunities.
YEIB serves as a synergistic hub, uniting financial and non-financial stakeholders, which includes the Nigerian Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), and the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN). The initiative will benefit from additional financial backing, with the DBN and NSIA contributing $25 million and $5 million, respectively.
The program is structured around two principal components:
The inaugural component involves the establishment of the YEIB Investment Management Company. This entity will be responsible for managing three specialized funds: the Equity Investment Fund (EIF), the Ecosystem Development Fund (EDF), and the Credit Guarantee Facility (CGF). These funds are designed to extend financial assistance, grant awards, and provide risk management solutions to businesses led by the youth and women.
The second component is dedicated to providing young entrepreneurs with the necessary tools and services to transform their innovative ideas into successful enterprises. This aspect of the initiative addresses significant societal issues such as youth unemployment and gender disparity.
The YEIB initiative is projected to generate over 161,000 direct employment opportunities, with a commitment to ensuring that 40% of these jobs are secured by women. It is also anticipated to create approximately 1.4 million indirect jobs, with women poised to benefit from 35% of these roles.
Furthermore, the initiative will extend support to more than 38,000 youth-driven enterprises, offering a combination of financial and advisory services, with a targeted focus on empowering women, who are expected to constitute 40% of the beneficiaries.
Dr. Abdul Kamara, the AfDB’s Director General for Nigeria, underscored the initiative’s capacity to narrow gender disparities and foster a spirit of entrepreneurship among the Nigerian youth. This endorsement by the AfDB marks the third YEIB initiative, with the Bank having previously approved analogous programs in Liberia and Ethiopia, demonstrating its commitment to nurturing entrepreneurship across the African continent.
