CBN Empowerment Scheme is an initiative of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria with the active support for entrepreneurship and participation of the citizens developmental role.
The CBN Empowerment Scheme involve the formulation and implementation of various policies, innovation of appropriate products and creation of enabling environment for financial institutions to deliver services in an effective, efficient and sustainable manner.
CBN Empowerment Scheme initiatives are mainly targeted at youth development, agricultural sector, rural development and micro, small and medium enterprises.
The scheme has continued to assume increasing recognition across the globe among policy makers, researchers and development oriented agencies.
The undisputed importance of CBN Empowerment Scheme derives from the promise for economic development, particularly in the areas of poverty reduction, employment generation, wealth creation and improving welfare and general standard of living.
As part of its developmental role, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with other Ministry and Resources has established various empowerment scheme which includes: Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), Agricultural Credit, NPower Scheme, Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) and so on.
List of CBN Empowerment Scheme and their Portal.
The following are the established CBN empowerment scheme and their official portal for application:
- Agricultural Credit.
- NPower Scheme.
- Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme.
- Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).
- Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES)
1. Agricultural Credit.
Agricultural credit is a CBN empowerment program and development Financing program put in place by CBN to aid the development of entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. The CBN Agricultural credit scheme is divided into three sectors. They includes:
- Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF)
- Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS)
- Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS)
The agricultural credit scheme is designed to:
- Fast-track the development of the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy by providing credit facilities to large-scale commercial farmers at a single digit interest rate;
- Enhance national food security by increasing food supply and effecting lower agricultural produce and products prices, thereby promoting low food inflation;
- Reduce the cost of credit in agricultural production to enable farmers exploit the untapped potentials of the sector; and
- Increase output, generate employment, diversify Nigeria’s revenue base, raise the level of foreign exchange earnings and provide input for manufacturing and processing on a sustainable basis.
Official Portal: https://www.cbn.gov.ng/devfin/acgsf.asp
2. NPower Scheme.
NPower programme is the recent CBN Empowerment Scheme established to help tackle unemployment & alleviate poverty in the nation.
The scheme was created as a component of National Social Investment Program, to provide a structure for large scale and relevant work skills acquisition and development and to ensure that each participant will learn and practice most of what is necessary to find or create work. N-Power was created on 8 June 2016 to address the issues of youth unemployment and help increase social development.
The scheme is created for unemployed graduates and non-graduates between the ages of 18 and 35. It is a paid programme of a two-year duration, aimed at engaging beneficiaries in their states of residence.
Official Portal: Click Here.
3. Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP) is also one of the CBN empowerment program which was launched on 15th March, 2016 to enhance the deployment of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Nigerian youths for maximum economic development.
This was in recognition of thttps://www.cbn.gov.ng/Devfin/yedp.asphe fact that there was no better segment of the Nigerian population than the youths to propel us to our much-needed economic recovery and diversification.
The YEDP aims to fix the triple-barreled constraints of insufficiency, high cost and inadequate term of capital usually faced by youth entrepreneurs and startups.
It offers credit of up to N3 million to eligible youth or N10 million for groups of 3 – 5 youths, Interest rate is 9% per annum. Tenor broadly depends on project complexity and cash flow but is between 1 year for working capital loan and 3 years for term loan.
The collateral requirements are quite simple: academic and NYSC certificates, third party guarantees and other movable assets.
Official Portal: Click Here
4. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).
The Central Bank of Nigeria, as part of its developmental roles and mandate of fostering a stable financial structure in Nigeria, The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (MSMEDC) was created.
On August 15, 2013, the Mississippi State Medical Education and Research Fund (MSMEDF) was created.
This was done in honor of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) make major contributions Micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSME) are a sub-sector of the economy.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, as part of its developmental roles and mandate of fostering a stable financial structure in Nigeria, The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (MSMEDC) was created.
On August 15, 2013, the Mississippi State Medical Education and Research Fund (MSMEDF) was created.
This was done in honor of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) make major contributions Micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSME) are a sub-sector of the economy.
Official Portal: Click Here.
5. Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES).
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) designed an entrepreneurial scheme for graduates of higher institutions in the country.
The scheme is tagged, ‘Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES)’. It is designed to create a paradigm shift among undergraduates and graduates from the pursuit of white-collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship development for economic development and job creation.
According to the CBN, the scheme is also aimed at providing an innovative financing model that will create jobs, enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem and support economic growth and development.
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