No fewer than 149 young entrepreneurs from across Nigeria have received grants and empowerment tools worth over ₦72 million at the 2026 Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Programme (YEEP), organised by the Activate Success International Foundation (ASIF) in partnership with Flutterwave.

The programme, held in Abuja, brought together government officials, private sector leaders, and development partners committed to expanding economic opportunities for young Nigerians through entrepreneurship and enterprise development.

The highlight of the event was the disbursement of cash grants and vocational support packages to beneficiaries drawn from different parts of the country. In total, over ₦72 million was distributed, while several beneficiaries also received industrial sewing machines to strengthen their businesses and vocational skills.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, supported 40 young entrepreneurs with grants of ₦500,000 each, amounting to ₦20 million. The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, provided grants to five beneficiaries, disbursing ₦2.5 million. ASIF and Flutterwave jointly supported 30 beneficiaries, with 25 entrepreneurs receiving ₦500,000 each, totaling ₦12.5 million, while five others received industrial sewing machines to enhance productivity and income-generation capacity.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, made the largest single contribution at the event, supporting 74 beneficiaries. Each recipient received ₦500,000, bringing the total intervention to ₦37 million.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ASIF, Love Idoko-Uloko, challenged Nigerian youths to embrace entrepreneurship, innovation, and courage as pathways to personal success and national development.

She said Nigeria’s greatest challenge is not a shortage of talent, but the absence of structures capable of transforming youthful potential into productive enterprise, declaring that “Nigeria needs a generation prepared to build, not a generation waiting for rescue.”

Addressing participants under the theme “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Courage and Impact,” Idoko-Uloko described entrepreneurship as the disciplined creation of value and opportunity, innovation as the commitment to relevance in a rapidly changing world, courage as the willingness to act in the face of uncertainty, and impact as the enduring measure of success.

She lamented the widening gap between talent and opportunity, education and employability, and aspiration and access, noting that millions of young Nigerians possess ideas and creativity but lack the support systems needed to transform them into sustainable livelihoods.

The ASIF founder explained that the foundation was established more than a decade ago to ensure that no young Nigerian’s future is limited by circumstances of birth. She said it has since evolved into a national platform for youth empowerment through entrepreneurship training, leadership development, and enterprise support initiatives.

Highlighting the impact of the foundation’s interventions, she disclosed that more than 90 per cent of businesses supported by ASIF remain operational, while 85 per cent have been formally registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, and over 70 per cent have recorded significant growth and expansion.

Idoko-Uloko also praised Flutterwave, the lead sponsor of YEEP 2026, for supporting the programme’s vision of equipping young entrepreneurs with the tools required to thrive in a rapidly evolving economic environment.