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Tag: grant

  • Outstanding varsity students to receive N50m venture capital grant – FG

    Outstanding varsity students to receive N50m venture capital grant – FG

    Outstanding students of public universities would be awarded a N50 million venture capital grant, the federal government has said.

    The government said that the grant is open to students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) fields.

    It added that the initiative is for high-achieving STEMM students in Nigerian universities, starting from the 300 Level.

    Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced this on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of the Research and Innovation Commercialisation Committee (RICC).

    Alausa revealed that the initiative will be rolled out between September and October this year.

    He said the fund was set up through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI). 

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    The minister noted that the panel led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Tayo Aduloju, is also expected to give out eligibility criteria for the grant.

    He said, “As we work as a government to move our country to move from resource based to knowledge-based economy, we also have to work to help our students and citizens to unleash their innate capabilities. We have tens of thousands of these students across our institutions who are geniuses, but they need the opportunity.

    “So the government, through TETFund, has set up a student grant venture capital initiative. We will give up to N50 million grants for students who are at 300 Level and above in any of our tertiary institutions to scale up their new businesses or already existing businesses they are about to scale up.”

    The education minister said the constitution of the panel to drive bench-to-market research commercialisation is a strategic initiative that aligns with the Ministry’s overarching goal of repositioning Nigeria’s higher education sector as a catalyst for national development.

    He said this was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s vision to strengthen research and innovation capacity and move the country to a knowledge-based economy.

    Alausa said, “Apart from translating research outputs into goods and services for addressing societal challenges, the commercialisation of research outcomes has several other benefits. It bridges the gap between academia and industry, thereby fostering strong collaboration between universities, research institutions, and the private sector. It also facilitates revenue generation for the institutions and researchers. The intellectual property rights, patents, licenses, and royalties derived from commercialised research can provide alternative income streams for tertiary institutions and inventors, thereby promoting self-sustainability.

    “I am delighted to acknowledge that the Federal Government has, through TETFund, committed significant resources towards the promotion of research and innovation in our institutions. To ensure that the outcome of research activities in our institutions translates to goods and services for enhancing the welfare of our people, we are committed to promoting the uptake of research outputs for commercialisation. This is precisely why the inauguration of this Committee is timely and significant to drive the process of commercialising the various promising research outputs for national development.”

    He said the Committee’s terms of reference include to: bridge the research-to-market gap by fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and government; establish an enabling framework for co-creation, funding, incubation, and scale-up of innovations emerging from Nigerian tertiary institutions and facilitate matchmaking and partnerships between researchers and industry players with a market need.

    Others are to: promote policy alignment that supports innovation financing, intellectual property rights, and ease of doing business; drive localisation and adaptation of global technologies to solve local problems and conduct any other activity that will facilitate the realisation of the committee’s mandate.

    Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, noted that the initiative is a significant step towards promoting research and innovation in Nigerian universities.

    She said that the Research and Innovation Commercialisation Committee (RICC) has a critical role to play in bridging the gap between academia and industry, and promoting the commercialisation of research outputs.

    Also speaking, the TETFund Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, urged committee members to work diligently to ensure that the initiative achieves its objectives and contributes to the country’s economic development.

    Echono commended the Minister of Education for his massive support towards ensuring the success of the Fund’s initiatives.

    He said, “TETFund has championed several initiatives geared towards promoting impactful research and facilitating the uptake of research outcomes with potential commercialisation.

    “I am glad that this chairman of the committee has been a partner in our efforts and our journey to try and see how we can create synergy, to be a triple-headed, to bring government, the private sector, and our academia together. We have been working with the communities, communities of practice, communities of business, and even the local communities where these enterprises are to help galvanise and situate research properly as the engine of growth in the economy.”

    In his acceptance speech, Dr Aduloju assured that the panel would work tirelessly to develop a robust framework for the commercialisation of research outputs as well as identify and support innovative projects that have the potential to drive economic growth and development in Nigeria.

    He assured that the panel would take into consideration the unique challenges and opportunities in the Nigerian research and innovation ecosystem and work to create a conducive environment for researchers, innovators, and industry players to collaborate and thrive.

    The committee is drawn from representatives of the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian universities, Bank of Industry, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) among others, with TETFund serving as the Secretariat.

  • 10 get Life Lager’s grant

    Ten entrepreneurs in Nsukka, Enugu State, have received N300,000 each to boost their businesses at the ‘Life Progress Booster Show’, an initiative of Life Lager Beer, a brand committed to supporting small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in the Southeast.

    The cheques were presented to the beneficiaries during the week, bringing the number of entrepreneurs who have benefited from the grant this year to 60.

    Addressing the audience at the presentation, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout Brands, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Agu, said the brand had increased the grant from N250,000 in 2016 to N300,000.

    He said the company would support 200 entrepreneurs through the Progress Booster platform in 2017.

    “Progress Booster is a programme with the sole aim of supporting the people of the Southeast who have innovative business ideas to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of the people.

    “This is the third set of entrepreneurs we are supporting this year, and we look forward to empowering other innovative business men and women,” Agu said.

    He also noted that Life Progress Booster Show was a platform for budding businessmen and women to present their proposals and transform their ideas to reality.

    According to him, the Progress Booster Show was initiated to raise more entrepreneurs and self-dependent individuals in Southeast Nigeria.

    He said through the years, Life Continental Beer has focused on empowering its consumers, and was committed to contributing to their successes and achievements.

    Other guests at the event went home with consolation prizes such as bags of rice, gallons of oil, and many more exciting prizes from raffle draws.

  • N600m conditional grant scheme

    The Oyo State government has released N600 million for the implementation of the Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS).

    The Chairman, State Implementation Committee on the Conditional Grants Scheme, (CGS-SIC), Abimbola Adekanmbi, said this at the distribution of medical equipment to primary health care/maternity centres and state owned health institutions.

    Adekanmbi, who is also  Commissioner for Finance, said accessibility of the fund would allow the state to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    He added that the CGS transformed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to SDGs and fast-tracked improvement of quality of life in agricultural, educational, infrastructural provision, environment and most importantly health care sectors in the last couple of years.

  • $200m World Bank grant stimulates agric

    $200m World Bank grant stimulates agric

    he World Bank is set to boost women and youth involvement in farming with  a $200 million grant.

    The new project, according to the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) Task Team leader, World Bank, Dr Sheu Salau, has been submitted to the bank’s  board for approval.

    Salau, who disclosed this on the sidelines of the Project’s 13th implementation support mission held in Lagos, said the  project was  part of the bank’s work towards reducing the cost of food by helping to boost agricultural output through increased participation of women and men.

    He stressed that women and youths were a priority for the bank, and that the new project would bolster youth entrepreneurship in agriculture and agri-business.

    The initiative will see the bank working with  State Agriculture Development Programmes  to train the next generation of agriculture entrepreneurs, also referred to as ‘agri-preneurs’, and provide them with seed money through banks to finance their bankable business plans.

    He  stressed the importance of  women and youths in all aspects of agriculture, ranging from the inputs, to the agricultural value chain including production, processing, marketing and transport, and reiterated the commitment of the World Bank to  improve the farming  systems; to deliver innovation and information; and to provide better tools for farmers.

    He said the remaining phase of the CADP project should be devoted to support youths and women  to  unlock the potential of agriculture.

    Salau reiterated that supporting micro and small-sized companies in the agricultural sector is a cornerstone of the bank’s strategy.

    On the CADP, he said 73 percent of the activities covered under the $150 million project has been executed. This covers rice, aquaculture and poultry value chain. Through the project, Salau  said states such as Lagos, Enugu, Cross River, and Kaduna  have had access to  inputs, financial services and skills in agri-business, efficient machinery for processing produce, market information, new technology, among others.

    He said the World Bank Group will continue to support the Federal Government in addressing its developmental challenges and emerging priorities.

    In the agribusiness sector alone, through CADP, the  Project Operations Officer, Dr. Salisu Garba  said the bank has committed S$ 150 million in projects involving rice, poultry  and aquaculture across Enugu,Cross Rivers, Lagos, Kano and Kaduna States since 2010.

    As of June this year, the project reached 36,332 small to medium commercial farmers through 33, 391 commodity interest groups (CIGs). The project funded 1,432 business plans under its matching grants mechanism and completed 307 km of link roads, to facilitate farmers access to technologies, services and markets.

    As a result, beneficiaries have increased significantly their production, productivity and volumes of sales.

    Garba said the project is back on track towards attainment of its development objectives which are to strengthen agricultural production systems and facilitate market access for targeted value chains among small and medium commercial farmers in the five participating states.

    Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mike Eneh reiterated the importance of the project to boosting food production.

    He informed the gathering that the main purpose of the mission was to gather inputs from the participating states for enhanced performance and the required impact.

    He urged participating states to take action to invest in agriculture  to be competitive and take advantage of the business opportunities, and appealed to participants to embrace and invest in technologies that would help transform the sector into a more efficient production that can allow the sector to tap into wider markets.

    Eneh highlighted some of the benefits of focusing on value-adding operations and the opportunities presented for the national economy to include increased national food security, social development in rural areas, job creation, and  improved tax and duty generation.

    He stressed the importance of developing and strengthening local capacity, calling on the private and public sectors to come together and invest for a successful agriculture and agro-processing sector focused on value-addition.

    The state Project Coordinator, Kehinde Ogunyinka,  said the  Commercial Agricultural Development Project, has moved fish farming in Lagos State to a new and unparalleled dimension with farmers exporting smoked fish  abroad.

    According to him, CADP activities in Lagos is one of the project’s success stories  with efforts to  invest heavily in cropping, livestock and processing  as well as skills development equipping small-scale farmers involved in the value-addition chain.According to him, steps are being taken to upgrade subsistence agriculture to commercial ventures focusing on small and medium scale commercial farmers and agro-processors.

    The CADP programme operates in five states: Cross River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos focusing on palm oil, cocoa, fruit trees, poultry, aquaculture, dairy and staples such as maize and rice.

    The US$150 million World Bank Project, which began in 2009, may end in  May, next year.

  • Sports minister orders probe of FIFA’s $1.1m grant

    Sports minister orders probe of FIFA’s $1.1m grant

    Barrister Solomon Dalung,the Sports Minister, has spoken on a report he received from the NFF raising queries on FIFA’s audit report of $1.1m FIFA development grant to the NFF.

    “According to the report, FIFA has withheld all development funds to Nigeria for lack of proper documentation of $802,000 out of the funds released to the NFF.

    “This is a very serious issue that must be given urgent attention to avoid another international embarrassment more so that the present administration under the leadership of  President Muhammadu Buhari has zero tolerance for any act of misappropriation, misapplication, embezzlement or fraud in any guise.”

    He directed the NFF to provide the Ministry of Youth and Sports with detailed information of receipt, disbursement and application of the FIFA development grant accordingly.

    “In addition, a reputable audit firm should be appointed urgently to check the account books of the federation to ensure that funds are judiciously expended. The audit report must be made public to promote transparency, build credibility and enhance your  market value,” Dalung said.

    He  urged the Football family to consolidate on the gains of the successes recorded so far as the country cannot afford to gamble with anything that will thwart the collective resolve to deliver the World Cup ticket to Nigeria.

  • Forex: Manufacturers hail CBN’s $660m grant

    Forex: Manufacturers hail CBN’s $660m grant

    Manufacturers have praised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for giving them $660 million to buy raw materials.  They said the fund would bring relief to some of them affected by the restrictions on the sourcing of foreign exchange (forex).

    Apapa branch Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Babatunde Odunayo said the cash was a welcome development.

    At the branch’s 45th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, Odunayo said: “Manufacturers are glad to receive the news of the release by the CBN of $660m to manufacturers for the purchase of raw materials.”

    The theme was: “Economic recession and the future of manufacturing in Nigeria.”

    MAN President, Dr. Frank Udemba

    Jacobs, described the theme of the AGM as “topical”, noting that it captured the current economic realities. He said the fall in oil prices and its attendant constrictions   of national income as well as the reccession, which the country  slipped into calls for greater attention to the manufacturing sector.

    According to him, the sector has been instrumental to the survival of many economies that slipped into recession in the past, but unfortunately, the sector in Nigeria    is passing through several  challenges.

    The Minster of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, restated government’s committment to the growth of  manufacturing.

    “The sector is the most viable option towards our economic renaissance as a nation,” he said, adding that goverments  focus was to build an industrialised economy that is strongly based on locally available resources.

    Enelamah said the recent decision to allocate over 60 per cent of avaialble forex to manufacturers was a demonstration of government’s commitment to the growth of manufacturing. He expressed the belief that the situation in the sector will soon improve.

    In a bid to ease business activities and reduce the pressure on the parallel market, the CBN had on November 7, 2016, granted manufacturers in Nigeria access to over $660m forex through  the inter-bank forex market to source raw materials and spare partsfor their operations.The gesture was good news to manufacturers.

    However, in another development, manufacturers have lamented that that the N100 billion Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) Revival Fund set up by the Federal Government through the Bank of Industry (Bol) to bail out textile companies and promote the manufacturing has failed.

    Speaking with The Nation,   said that the intervention has failed to make any appreciable impact on the sector.

    He stated that the large-scale funding programme initiated by the government in 2010 has failed to revive the comatose sector because of unbridled importation of substandard textile materials from Asian countries, particularly China.

    Udemba said although there have been reports of Customs raiding textile markets in Kano where smuggled goods worth N315 billion were seized, the volume of smuggled textiles in Balogun Market in Lagos or Onitsha Market, for instance, remained high.

    The MAN boss, however, said the government could save indigenous textile manufacturers by allocating 10 per cent of the Textiles Development Levy to companies at single digit interest rate for Research & Development (R&D) and technology improvement. This, he said, will be in line with the government’s policy on textile development earlier agreed by stakeholders.

    Jacobs also called for the introduction of Cotton Marketing Board to ensure that manufacturers have preference over export, in addition to granting them unfettered access to forex to import raw materials and spare parts.

    He further urged the Federal Government to reduce the price of gas  and review the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) list of 41 items restricted access to forex. This, he said, is to remove raw materials component from the list and grant tax holidays to the textile companies.

  • Heritage bank boosts SMEs with N500m grant

    Heritage bank boosts SMEs with N500m grant

    Heritage Bank Limited on Thursday launched a N500 million Young Entrepreneurs and Students (YES) Grant to boost small industries. The initiative, which is in partnership with the Nigerian Youth Professional Forum (NYPF), will, according to the bank, support students and young entrepreneurs toward socio-economic freedom.

    The Managing Director, Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, in his remarks at the occasion in Lagos, explained that the bank’s support for the programme arose from the fact that the initiative aligned with the bank’s vision to help create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.

    The Managing Director, who was represented by the bank’s Group Head, Market Strategy, Mr. Obioma Emenike, added that the bank will also support the project in terms of training the beneficiaries, disbursement of the grant as well as in the monitoring and evaluation of the project’s milestones as agreed with the beneficiaries.

    “We have been playing strongly in the education and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) sectors of the economy. This project syncs with our mission and vision as a bank. The age bracket of 18 to 40 years for the beneficiaries also aligns with our corporate goal, just like the key sectors which include agriculture, ICT and creative industry, identified for the project are pivotal for economic growth” he said.

    The NYPF, according to its Chairman, Mr. Moses Siasia, is a non-governmental organisation conceived by a group of young professionals with the mission to promote innovative ideas for socio-economic development.

    Siasia said the programme is geared towards assisting both aspiring and existing young entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses, and ultimately create jobs and distribute wealth in the economy.

    For the students, the grant can be accessed for tuition fees to help low income students and technological research and innovation.  Students in Nigeria can access up to N500, 000 only. Students in the United Kingdom can access up to 3000 pounds, while those in the US can access up to $5,000.

    For young entrepreneurs, the grant will be available for the following target sectors: agriculture, creative industry, Information and Communication Technology (ICT).  In each category, an entrepreneur with an existing business can access up to N2 million.

    Before the latest initiative, Heritage Bank had packaged a N200m loan facility for young graduates willing to advance their dreams in small-scale businesses. It is also collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the CBN initiative, Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YIEDP).

  • ABUAD targets $2.5m agric grant

    ABUAD targets $2.5m agric grant

    Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) is seeking a grant of $2.5 million from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to stimulate commercial agriculture in rural communities in Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.

    ABUAD and the partners – Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and ABUAD Farms – are proposing 36 months implementation period.

    ABUAD Founder Aare Afe Babalola spoke at the weekend, when he hosted an IFAD team led by its President, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze.

    Babalola said the project is targeted at development of in-house enterprise and infrastructure for training of millions of youths in the two countries.

    The ABUAD founder said the project would also lead to a 40 per cent increase In agribusiness enterprises and income generation for over 750,000 youths, who are students and non-students in Nigeria and Benin Republic.

    He added that over 500,000 rural and urban agribusinesses will have access to trained youths in agribusiness and over 200,000 new mini agribusiness enterprises private sector will emerge using starter-pack funds that will be provided to trained youths.

    Nwanze said the potential of agriculture to develop the nation’s youth was high.

    He harped on the need to invest in the younger generation.

    While saying the ABUAD proposal fits into IFAD framework, Nwanze said it would be included in the 2017 pipeline since that of 2016 had been completed, adding: “What ABUAD is doing is laudable”.

    The IFAD boss, who said importation of food into Nigeria was unacceptable, said: “the trend has to be reversed and the only opportunity is our young ones. We have to give hope to the young people”.

  • Community tasks Mobil on N1.6b development grant

    The people of Eastern Obolo local government area of Akwa Ibom has called on ExxonMobil to increase the Company’s development grant from the current N250 million to N1.6 billion as it is done for other host communities.

    The people also appealed to the Federal Government to appoint its indigene as the next Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The chairman, Eastern Obolo Traditional Rulers Council, Chief Job Job made the appeal at Okoroete, the council headquarters while addressing the press on the plights of the area.

    The monarch, who was flanked by his chiefs in council, spoke through the Community Consultant on Oil Matters to the area, Dr John Ukpatu.

    Job noted that since the establishment of NDDC in 2000, no indigene of Eastern Obolo had been appointed into the board of the commission.

    “Oil was discovered in Eastern Obolo in 1956. Eastern Obolo is host to Shell, Amni International and co-host to ExxonMobil, Total, Conoil Nig. Ltd., and Addax.

    “Nigeria produces 2.2 million barrel of oil per day (bopd) and Akwa Ibom contributes 40 per cent (880, 000 bopd).

    “Out of the 40 per cent from Akwa Ibom, Eastern Obolo contributes 22 per cent (193, 600 bopd),” the monarch said.

    He lamented that Eastern Obolo was the only core oil producing local government area that had not been appointed into NDDC from Akwa Ibom.

    Job alleged that the area had nothing to show for its enormous contributions to the development of Akwa Ibom and Nigeria.

  • TETFund ranks BUK second in grant performance

    TETFund ranks BUK second in grant performance

    Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Prof Sulieman Bogoro, has said Bayero University, Kano (BUK) ranks second among universities that had performed creditably in the use of its grants.

    Speaking at the inauguration of some projects funded by TETFund at the old and permanent sites of the university in Kano, Bogoro said the Federal Government was inspired to pay good attention to the institution considering the giant strides it had accomplished within a short spell.

    He praised the management of the institution for collaborating to ensure that the grants were well utilised and the projects well executed.

    He said the university had proven its academic prowess under the purposeful leadership of its immediate past Vice Chancellor, Prof Abubakar Rasheed, expressing optimism that his successor, Prof Muhammad Bello, would  sustain the tempo.

    Also speaking, Prof Bello lauded the establishment of the Centre for Renewable Energy Research and the department of Petro-chemical engineering, which were among the projects inaugurated, as monumental edifices that would support research especially now that the country was in need of superb technological innovations.

    He noted that the university was effectively competing to meet the challenges of academic excellence and added that with the steps taken so far, nothing would stand as a clog in the wheel of realising such a goal.

    He thanked the federal government for according BUK the academic leverage to forge ahead, stressing that without decisive government intervention the effort would have come to naught.