N75 Billion Youth Investment Fund from Central Bank of Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently launched the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF)  which is held by the Federal government. CBN has also revealed businesses and activities that are eligible to benefit from the program. This scheme is aimed at providing financial empowerment to Nigeria youth in order to generate at least 500,000 jobs by 2023. From the information published by the Central Bank of Nigeria and signed by its Director, Development Finance Department, it was disclosed in the framework for the implementation of the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund.

Who is Eligible to Apply for the NYI Funds?

Both informal and formal business enterprises will benefit from the scheme. For individuals or sole proprietors of the informal enterprise to be eligible must fulfill the following conditions below;

• Possess a Local Government Indigene Certificate.
• Be a youth within the age bracket of 18-35 years.
• Has a valid Bank Verification Number (BVN)
• Have business/enterprises domiciled and operations in Nigeria.
• Has not been convicted of any financial crime in the last 10 years.

For the formal business enterprises (Youth Owned Enterprises), that are legal entities duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) would require the following documents;

• Evidence of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (Certificate of Incorporation and Form CAC 2A);
• (Business questionnaire;
• List of Directors with BVN nos.
• Evidence of regulatory approvals (where applicable);
• Tax Identification Number (TIN). (Find out how to get TIN in Nigeria via this LINK )

It is important to NOTE that individuals with unregistered businesses can get up to N250,000 loan while registered businesses can get up to N3 million (including working capital) with not more than 5 percent per annum interest rate.

Who is Ineligible to Apply for the NYI Funds?

Applicants who are ineligible to apply for the funds are;

Applicants that are currently enjoying NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) loans – which includes Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) and Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AgSMEIS) loans, that remains unpaid.
In addition, beneficiaries of other government loan schemes that remain unpaid are also not eligible to participate in this scheme.

Eligible Businesses/Activities

Other outlined activities in the framework by the CBN are the businesses and activities that are legally allowed to be eligible in the scheme includes;

• Trading and services
• Healthcare value chain
• Construction
• Technology/Innovation
• Agriculture and related value chain
• Green Economy and Renewable energy sector
• Manufacturing
• Hospitality/Tourism
• Creative sector
• Logistics and supply chain
• Others as may be determined by NYIF/CBN from time to time.

Any person(s) with business ideas and meet up the requirements can apply for the fund through the link below  https://nyif.nmfb.com.ng/Applicants/New