The National Youth Service Corps -NYSC members involved in agriculture, bakery, fashion, and other small business ventures in Nigeria have received a 10 million naira grant from Unity Bank.
The fund was awarded at the eighth edition of Unity Bank‘s Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, known as Corpreneurship Challenge. Since the program began in 2019, eighty-eight Corp members have received about a 100-million-naira grant.
The event, which is held across 10 states; Rivers, Delta, Sokoto, Edo, Abuja, Akwa-Ibom, Osun, Kano, Bayelsa, and Enugu, is an entrepreneurship battle among corpers showcasing their entrepreneurial skills.
Some of the winners included Moses Gloria, a fashion entrepreneur, whose business plan won a N500,000 grant for a fabric production company; a budding commercial rice farmer, Emmanuel Adole who received a N300,000 grant; and Okotie Racheal Dokubere who got N200,000, amongst others.
Speaking during the finale in Delta State, the Group Head for Retail, E-Business, and SME Banking at Unity Bank Plc, Olufunwa Akinmade, disclosed that when the initiative began in 2019, they had set out to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
“So far, the initiative has resonated with the target audience and there is no gainsaying the fact, that this will continue to have a huge impact on job creation across the country.” Stated Abu Igemohia Mohammed, the Unity Bank Regional Manager for the Edo/Delta Region, who was representing Mr. Akinmade.
