Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that a 2014 National Baseline Youth Survey Report issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youths Development recorded that 58 per cent of Nigeria youths were unemployed in 2014.

Female unemployed youths stood at 51.9 per cent, while the male was 48.1 per cent.

This was disclosed by CBN Director of Development Finance, Dr. M. A. Olaitan recently in Abuja at the signing of the Tripartite Agreement on the establishment of CBN Entrepreneurship Development Centre for South East Zone located in Abia State.

Dr. Olaitan, who represented the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated that it was in attempt to reverse this decline in the nation’s economy that informed CBN to develop, support and complement efforts of other government agencies by establishing EDC in each of the six geopolitical zones.

According to him, the apex bank has over the years performed some major developmental functions through interventions in the real sectors of the economy.

“These interventions are on creating enabling environment to stimulate the flow of credit to the real sector for job creation and wealth creation and diversification of the economy,” he noted.

Emefiele said CBN also needed to address some of the key challenges of skilled manpower and devise practical measure to engage the army of unemployed youths in the country, to make Nigeria Africa’s economic hub by the year 2020.