Get Guardian on GoogleThe Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD), through the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), in partnership with Cascador, has awarded N5 million each in non-dilutive funding to eight young Nigerian entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth of their businesses.
The beneficiaries emerged from the NiYA-Cascador Founders Programme Pitch Day held in Abuja, which marked the conclusion of a four-week accelerator programme designed to equip young entrepreneurs with business management skills, investment readiness and access to growth capital.
The programme attracted over 19,000 applications from young entrepreneurs across the country following its launch on International Youth Day in August.
Seventeen founders from 13 states, representing Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, were subsequently selected to participate in the programme.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said Nigeria has an abundance of talented and innovative young people who need opportunities to turn their ideas into successful businesses.
He said the partnership between the ministry, NiYA and Cascador was designed to bridge the gap between skills acquisition, funding and enterprise development.
The programme was implemented by Sapphital Limited, the official technical partner of FMYD, leveraging its Startup and Grant Management System to manage applications and assessments, and coordinate the accelerator programme.
