Business FG Launches YouWin! Batch 4, $50m SME Fund

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The Batch 4 of the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) programme as well as a $50million Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) fund to be managed under the auspices of Venture Capital Fund was yesterday launched by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.

The Batch 4 of the programme is expected to financially empower 1,500 entrepreneurs with grants ranging from N1million to N10 million, and bring the total number of beneficiaries since inception in 2011 to 5,400.

It is designed for entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 45, who will in turn create thousands of jobs for other Nigerians.

Speaking at the launch, Jonathan said the new SME Fund which needed the seed capital of about $50 million was essential for a number of reasons.

“This Fund will identify and further empower a few of you, some who are here and some new people that will join us, that are interested in expanding what they already have through the you win or even starting new businesses”, he explained.

"Hopefully, when the disbursement of the third phase commences and by the time the fourth phase takes we are expecting a minimum of would have had 44,000 jobs created by young Nigerians for young Nigerians”.

Meanwhile, about 18,000 persons who did not directly benefit from the scheme were trained and were able to access funds from different sources.

Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, also said that disbursements for the third phase of the Programme will commence shortly as the hitches have been cleared.

#Nigeria #YouWin

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