Nigeria Youth Investment Fund Benefits 5,200 youth as 25,000 more await approval, disbursement
The Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), operated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, has disbursed loans to 5,200 youth amounting to one billion six hundred and twenty-nine million two hundred and twenty thousand naira (N1,629,220,000.00).
The information is contained in the latest update provided to the Ministry by the NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank (NMFB), which disburses the loan showed that it was prepared to disburse to another batch of 25,000 youth once they their loan applications are approved.
Total eligible applications approved stood at 6054 out of which the 5,200 disbursements were made leaving the number of those that have been approved but yet to get disbursement at 854. The number of unqualified applicants for the batch stood at 721.
An advisory from the Ministry revealed that some applicants were not qualified for loan disbursement because the applicant did not provide valid or correct contact details for communication on further steps in the loan application; applicant has existing AGSMEIS or COVID-19 Loan and that an applicant is older than 35 years old, which puts them beyond the age bracket for youth.
Other reasons are that the applicant has a poor credit rating or currently has a non-performing loan, applicant failed to provide a valid BVN and provided incomplete or incorrect BVN.
The Ministry reminds the beneficiaries and applicants that the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) disburses repayable loans to the youth and not grants.
Meanwhile, another batch of 25,000 have been pre-qualified for training ahead of final clearance for disbursement with the Ministry disclosing that it was in consultations with other partners to expand the loans disbursement platform to fast-track access to the Fund.
Only N3 billion has been provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) out of the N12.5billion approved for the first tranche of the NYIF. So far, 54.6 % of the N3 billion has been disbursed.
About 25,000 are lined up for approval, training and eventually disbursement.