By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – Nigeria’s Most Innovative Bank, Heritage Bank Limited said on Wednesday it has boosted its entrepreneurship support by the launch of N500 million Young Entrepreneurs and Students (YES) Grant in Lagos.
The lender said that the initiative, which is in partnership with the Nigerian Youth Professional Forum (NYPF), support students and young entrepreneurs toward socio-economic freedom.
Ifie Sekibo, managing director (MD) of Heritage Bank in his remarks at the occasion said the bank’s support for the programme arises from the fact that the initiative aligns with the vision of the bank which is to help create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.
Sekibo who was represented by Obioma Emenike, group head, Market Strategy of Heritage Bank added that the bank will also support the project in terms of training the beneficiaries, disbursement of the grant as well as in the monitoring and evaluation of the project’s milestones as agreed with the beneficiaries.
“We have been playing strongly in the education and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) sectors of the economy. This project syncs with our mission and vision as a bank. The age bracket of 18 to 40years for the beneficiaries also aligns with our corporate goal, just like the key sectors which include agriculture, ICT and creative industry, identified for the project are pivotal for economic growth” he said.
Moses Siasia, chairman of the NYPF said the forum is a non-governmental organisation conceived by a group of young professionals with the mission to promote innovative ideas for socio-economic development.
According to him, the programme is aimed towards assisting both aspiring and existing young entrepreneurs to starting and growing their businesses, and ultimately create jobs and distribute wealth in the economy.
For the students, the grant can be accessed for tuition fees to help low income students carryout technological research and innovation.
Heritage Bank says students in Nigeria can access up to N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only; students in the United Kingdom can access up to GBP 3000 (Three Thousand Pounds while Students in the United States can access up to $5,000 (Five Thousand Dollars).
Similarly, for young entrepreneurs, the grant will be available for the following target sectors: Agriculture, Creative Industry, Information and Communication Technology. “In each category, an entrepreneur with an existing business can access up to N2 million,” the lender added.
Prior to the latest initiative, Heritage Bank had packaged a N200 million loan facility for young graduates willing to advance their dreams in small-scale businesses. It is also collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the CBN initiative, Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YIEDP).
The CEO of the Heritage Bank had recently re-affirmed the lender’s resolve to empower more Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, “that part of the bank’s commitment to empower SMEs is the establishment of an SME Clinic that is geared towards helping small businesses in addressing challenges associated with setting up businesses as well as mitigating the effects of certain business decisions by such entrepreneurs,” Sekibo said.
