Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, launched the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme on Thursday to combat underemployment and unemployment in the country.
At the presentation in Abuja, Emefiele also gave loans ranging from N4.1m to N5m to graduates who applied and were chosen.
“The scheme, developed in collaboration with Nigerian polytechnics and universities, is designed to harness the potentials of graduate entrepreneurs by fostering a paradigm shift away from the pursuit of white-collar jobs and toward a culture of entrepreneurship for economic development and job creation,” he explained.
He remarked that, in the face of a lack of suitable employment prospects, it had become critical for the government at all levels to implement policy measures to stimulate entrepreneurial growth among adolescents.
Such initiatives, according to the governor, will create an enabling business ecosystem that encourages innovation and helps the youth to unleash their entrepreneurial potential by shifting their attention away from white-collar professions and toward a culture of entrepreneurship development.