Is Nigeria Youth Investment Fund a grant as many say?

Many Nigerian youths are of the misconception that the Federal Government N75B Nigeria Youth Investment Fund is a grant. The clear answer is, it is a loan but a soft loan.

A soft Loan is a loan with below-market rate of interest and characterised by lenient terms such as extended grace periods or repayment plan.

The explanation becomes imperative as many who applied for the COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility funding initially thought it was a grant only to be greeted with repayment plans and  terms and conditions, although very soft as the name implies.

According to the Federal Government, the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund is funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria to invest in youth innovative ideas, skills and talents, transform them into Entrepreneurs and build sustainable businesses that can increase job opportunities in Nigeria, contributing to national development.

The Loan will be disbursed and monitored by the Nirsal Microfinance Bank at 5% interest rate per annum, maximum of 5 years duration with payment plan distributed efficiently across the years, and incredible 12 months maximum moratorium.

A group or an individual who has a business registered with the Corporate Affairs Commision can access between 3million to 5million.

That is in a year, the interest would be between N150,000 to N250,000.

Individuals who have businesses not yet registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission can only access up to N250,000. That is in a year, the interest rate would be just N12,500. It's actually soft when compared to loans from Commercial banks.

The initial Step of accessing this fund is registration in the portal https://nyif.nmfb.com.ng/Applicants/new

The Next step is to get Trained:

The training is a 5 day online Training with an approved Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI).

Joining the training is strictly upon invitation through mail or text messages and only those invited can have the log in details to participate in the training.

After the Training, you will be issued a certificate of participation which are all free.

Read also>>>Breaking: Nigeria Youth Investment Fund Application,Training free -Ministry warns

The next Step after Traininng is the Loan Application:

Successfully trained applicant will proceed to the Nirsal Microfinance Bank website to apply for the loan upon possession of the stated requirements and meeting the eligibility criteria.

After filling the application form with the required data and document(s), just click submit.

The next step is to wait for Loan Approval:

After submission of application, the Nirsal Microfinance Bank conducts Loan assessment in line with Risk Assessment Criteria and programme guideline, makes appropriate decision and forward the recommended application to CBN for approval.

Then if your application is favoured, the next is Loan Disbursement:

The CBN reviews recommended application and gives the final disbursements approval to Nirsal Microfinance Bank and, gbagam! your alert drops.

Here are key business sectors considered viable for loan access and approval as regards this Nigeria Youth Investment Fund. 

They are:

• Technology/ Innovation

• Agriculture and related value chain  

• Green Economy and Renewable energy sector  

• Manufacturing  

• Hospitality/ Tourism  

• Construction  

• Logistics and supply chain  

• Healthcare value chain  

• Creative sector  

• Trading and Services  

• Others as may be determined by FMYSD/CBN from time to time

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