The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Youwin

  • YouWin awardees protest non-release of take-off grant

    PARTICIPANTS of the YouWin programme yesterday staged a protest at the Ministry of Finance over the delay in releasing their take-off funds for almost a year.

    The protesters, who gathered at the gate of the ministry yesterday morning with different banners and placards, pleaded with the Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun to release the funds to them.

    Speaking to reporters during the peaceful protest, a representative of the protesters, Folurunsho Temitope, said they resorted to the protest after all avenues for dialogue failed.

    According to him, letters were written to the minister, the two chambers of the National Assembly and the office of the Vice President without any response.

    He wondered: “Why would the Federal Government take us through such a rigorous process only to abandon us after giving us certificates of participation? I don’t think we were called winners based on our certificates.”

    Also speaking, one of the awardees, Rita Nduonufit, said the non-release of the grants was affecting their drive to use the programme as an avenue to create jobs.

    She lamented: “Now, we are stuck. We have written to President Muhammadu Buhari. We have written to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and we have written to the Federal Ministry of Finance and they said they were done with us.

    “Hundreds of thousands of us applied for the programme. We were shortlisted to 61,000 people and we were moved on to an online programme before shortlisting us further to 5,000 and called us winners of the YouWin programme. These 5,000 people were given an in-house capacity-building programme and here we are, no response from the ministry, no communications and we have no funds.”

    Reacting to the protest, the Federal Ministry of Finance, in a statement by the ministry’s Director, Information, Mr. Hassan Dodo, said: “Ministry of Finance has promised to address grievances raised by participants in the YouWin! Connect Programme.”

    This promise, he said, “was the outcome of the meeting between officials of the ministry and representatives of participants of the YouWin! Connect Capacity Building Programme, who came to seek further clarifications in respect of the programme.”

    The ministry said it would soon update stakeholders on the next phases of the YouWin! Connect programme.

    It noted that such clarification became necessary because many participants in the programme had sought information on how their businesses could be supported, having completed the second phase of the YouWin Connect Capacity-Building.

     

  • FG pays N11bn to YouWin awardees

    FG pays N11bn to YouWin awardees

    The Federal Government has disbursed over N11 billion to the beneficiaries of the third edition of the YouWiN! programme from 2015 to date.

    The Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Salisu Dambatta in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said that out of the amount, N8.52 billion was disbursed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

    According to Dambatta, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, disclosed this while releasing the last payment of N125.64 million for disbursement to the final 61 beneficiaries of the third edition.

    “By January 2018, the total amount disbursed to beneficiaries of the third edition of the YouWiN! programme will be N11, 121, 031, 260, of which the current administration has disbursed N8, 522, 545,038,” she said.

    Adeosun said that the amount was disbursed to 1, 500 beneficiaries who have started or expanded their business across a variety of sectors, including Information and Communication Technology, Manufacturing, Services and Agricultural Production and Processing.

    She said that other areas covered under the third edition were Fashion and Entertainment, while various technical supports were extended to over 18, 000 beneficiaries in the areas of access to markets and finance.

    She said that the YouWin beneficiaries also had capacity building training in business management, accounting and operations.

    It will be recalled that on assuming office as the Minister of Finance, Adeosun reviewed and restructured the programme to YouWiN! Connect.

    YouWiN! Connect is currently providing online capacity building to more than 61,000 beneficiaries across the country.

    The next stage of the YouWiN! Connect Programme will involve sector specific in-class training to successful beneficiaries and the development of franchise infrastructure.

  • N2.5b investment coming from YouWin Programme

    The relaunched YouWin! Connect Programme is set to mobilise up to N2.5billion yearly as equity investment in start-ups and early stage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through qualified fund managers under a co-investment model.

    A statement yesterday by the Director, Information Federal Ministry of Finance, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta , said the Federal Government has a renewed focus on key economic sectors in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), with  emphasis on SMEs led growth in agriculture, energy, technology, manufacturing, industry and key services.

    Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, said the revival of these sectors, coupled with increased investment in other sectors, less reliance on foreign exchange for intermediate goods, raw materials and greater export orientation, will improve macroeconomic conditions, restore growth in the short term and help to create jobs.

    She said this is in tandem with Federal Government’s understanding that SMEs are engines of growth to stimulate and sustain economic recovery, thereby making the strengthening of small-scale businesses and the promotion of industrialisation, priorities for economic recovery.

    The component of the relaunched initiative demonstrates government’s commitment to empower start-ups and early stage SMEs, providing innovative solutions to local challenges in Nigeria.

    According to the statement, fund managers would be expected to demonstrate a strong track record in investing in and advising early stage SMEs, with a knowledge of diverse sectors and a clearly defined investment strategy.This is to ensure that fund managers can actively and positively, contribute to improving business performance by bringing on-board their experiences and having skin in the game, by providing some of the required capital.

    YouWiN! Connect is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance which aims to support young entrepreneurs as they Plan, Start and Grow their businesses.

    The initiative  seeks to promote entrepreneurship as a viable career option for young Nigerians This demonstrates Government’s commitment to empower start-ups and early stage SMEs, providing innovative solutions to local challenges in Nigeria.

    The Federal Government of Nigeria intends that additional impact of this scheme will include social inclusion, job creation, youth empowerment and improved human capital.

  • YouWin Programme to mobilise N2.5b equity annually 

    YouWin Programme to mobilise N2.5b equity annually 

    The recently relaunched YouWin! Connect Programme is set to mobilise up to N2.5bn annually as an equity investment in start-ups and early stage SMEs through qualified fund managers under a co-investment model.

    According to a statement issued yesterday by the Director, Information Federal Ministry of Finance , Salisu Na’inna Dambatta ,the Federal Government has a renewed focus on key economic sectors in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, with an emphasis on SME-led growth in agriculture, energy, technology, manufacturing, industry and key services. 

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said that”The revival of these sectors, coupled with increased investment in other sectors, less reliance on foreign exchange for intermediate goods, raw materials and greater export orientation, will improve macroeconomic conditions, restore growth in the short term, and help to create jobs”. 

    Continuing, the statement said that, this is in line with the belief of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), are engines of growth to stimulate and sustain economic recovery, thereby making the strengthening of small-scale businesses & the promotion of industrialisation, priorities for economic recovery.

    The component of the relaunched initiative demonstrates Government’s commitment to empowering start-ups and early stage SMEs, providing innovative solutions to local challenges in Nigeria. 

    According to the statement, fund managers would be expected to demonstrate a strong track record in investing in and advising early stage SMEs, with a knowledge of diverse sectors and a clearly defined investment strategy.This is to ensure that fund managers can actively and positively, contribute to improving business performance by bringing onboard their experiences and having skin in the game, by providing some of the required capital.

    YouWin! Connect is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance which aims to support young entrepreneurs as they Plan, Start and Grow their businesses. 

    The initiative seeks to promote entrepreneurship as a viable career option for young Nigerians this demonstrates Government’s commitment to empowering start-ups and early stage SMEs, providing innovative solutions to local challenges in Nigeria. 

    The Federal Government of Nigeria intends that additional impact of this scheme will include social inclusion, job creation, youth empowerment and improved human capital. 

  • Dangote writes for YouWin! Connect

    Dangote writes for YouWin! Connect

    President/CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, will write an article in the next edition of YouWiN! Connect, which will be published in five newspapers.

    The article, which will focus on “Starting Small”, will be published in The Punch and Vanguard on Sunday; and in Leadership, Trust and The Nation on Wednesday.

    A statement by Project Director, YouWiN! Connect, Dennis A.V. Chukwu said Dangote’s article will be published Academy section.

    Dangote wrote: “I have always had a passion for business. As a child, I remember trading in confectioneries amongst my classmates and as I grew older, I gathered business experience working with my uncle.

    “The article, which will be published under the “YouWiN! Connect Academy” section, also shared vital success and motivational  tips for entrepreneurs who are starting small.

    “Finance Minsiter, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, commended Dangote and described his interest and involvement in the enterprise education initiative of the ministry as “a watershed moment” for the programme.

    She said: “There’s no better way to help entrepreneurs succeed than to have icons like Dangote share their personal success stories with them through an increasingly valuable platform like YouWiN! Connect. This is why the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration reaffirmed its commitment to the project in its enhanced form.”

    She urged other successful entrepreneurs to follow Dangote’s example.

  • Fed Govt restructures YouWin

    The Federal Government has restructured the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) programme into a multimedia-based programme,  rebranded  YouWinConnect!.

    The new programme now has a sharper focus on supporting young entrepreneurs with fresh businesas management ideas for sustainability.

    A statement from the Federal Ministry of Finance read: “The transformation of the programme was in line with the promise made earlier in the year by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who initiated consultations with beneficiaries and other stakeholders of the programme for inputs that would improve the performance and sustainability of small and medium businesses start-ups by beneficiaries of the programme.”

    She said the YouWinConnect! was designed “to support young entrepreneurs as they plan, start and grow their businesses by delivering to them enterprise management education and skills as well as Franchise Development Online, through radio and television.”

  • Youwin awardees lament delay in payment of grants

    The awardees of the third edition of the YouWin programme have threatened to sack 4,500 workers if government fails to meet up with its financial obligation.

    The umbrella body representing the third edition of YouWin3 awardess, made this threat following the nine months delay by the Federal Government to pay the grants of between N1million and N10million, which they won.

    According to the organization in a statement, awardees under the third edition of the programme are suffering a lot of business and personal losses due to the inability of the Federal Government to pay promptly since winning the grant.

    The group of Awardees lamented that many of them resigned paid employment to completely go into business after winning the grants, adding: “The Federal Ministry of Finance has delayed the payment of the remaining second and third tranches of the grants to deserving awardees for the past nine months.

    “YouWin3 Awardees have made series of representation to the Minister of Finance and the Permanent Secretary through series of letters to her office on the matter, which has not yield fruits.

    “The Federal Ministry of Finance claims that payments to awardees are being frustrated due to delay by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in respect to releasing the funds for awardees already captured in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for disbursement.

    “The Secretariat and Federal Ministry of Finance have approved awardees for payments of the remaining second and third tranches having met the job creation milestones, but all efforts to get the business grants in full as agreed with the Ministry have not been fruitful despite starting the business and creating over 4,500 jobs in the third edition.

    The statement further noted that due to the failure or inability of government to fulfill its mandate as agreed has hampered many of the business from growing.

    “We call on the World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID) who are partners and funders of the Youwin programme to urgently intervene in this matter and save our business from collapsing.

    “We call on the organized private sector and the civil society organization to urgently intervene to save our future and protect our jobs in the local economy by prevailing on government to act to save our business,” the group said.

    The Awardees said the Federal Government must act within 14 days threatening: “We may have no choice but to call all 1,500 Youwin third edition awardees and Nigerian youths for a public protest during which we shall occupy the Federal Ministry of Finance and engage in a hunger strike until we get results.”

  • ‘YOUWIN’ beneficiaries allege diversion of grants

    Eleven beneficiaries of the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) in Ekiti State have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the prolonged non-release of their grants.

    They alleged that their findings from the Federal Ministry of Finance showed that the grants meant for beneficiaries in Ekiti and Osun states were “diverted”.

    YOUWIN is a job creation platform established by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to empower young entrepreneurs to strengthen and expand ideas into businesses.

    Addressing reporters in Ado Ekiti, their coordinator, Stephen Olutola Afolabi, said of the 1,500 beneficiaries, Ekiti had only 11.

    He said they received their first tranche on January 9. On May 28, the second tranche was paid to 1007 but only nine of the beneficiaries in Osun and Ekiti were paid.

    Afolabi said: “We have been patiently waiting and expecting since May 28 but to no avail. Each time we call the YOUWIN secretariat the responses have always been ‘we are still processing your payment’.

     “On Tuesday, we sent delegates to the ministry in Abuja.

    “We were shocked when the delegates reported that a reliable source said the money meant for  both states had been “diverted”.

    “We want our plight  looked into  so that our grant can be given to us without further delay.”

  • Okonjo-Iweala to Buhari: Don’t scrap YOUWIN

    Okonjo-Iweala to Buhari: Don’t scrap YOUWIN

    The out-going Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has appealed to the Muhammadu Buhari -led incoming ‎administration not to jettison the YOUWIN initiative of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The minister said it is important to sustain the job creation model considering its benefits.

    Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke at a reception‎ organised by Ndi-Igbo Youth Organisation in partnership with Voice of All Arewa Youth in Abuja, Monday, equally urged the incoming government to continue with the outgoing government’s economic policies that are beneficial and review the ones that needs to be improved upon.

    Acknowledging that youths were central to any transformation, the minister said President Jonathan charged the economic team to evolve programmes that will address the unemployment crisis facing the nation.

    She said: “My charge as minister was to create jobs.‎ So, we set out to find out how many jobs that were needed because you cannot create jobs in a vacuum. You also realise that the bulk of the nation’s population is the youth, so, if you don’t factor them into any transformation, it is bounds to fail.

    “We realised that we needed to create ‎1.8 million jobs yearly to address the unemployment challenges.”

    She said the current government encouraged several sectors that created ‎jobs.

    According to her, YOUWIN created 22,000 direct jobs and 88,000 indirect jobs.

  • Govt launches $50m Venture Capital Fund

    The Federal Government yesterday launched a $50 million Venture Capital Fund also known as the YouWin Small and Medium Enterprise fund.

    It was launched alongside the fourth round of the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) programme.

    YouWin, which started in 2011, is an entrepreneurial scheme designed for entrepreneurs aged between 18  and 45 years aimed at creating jobs by helping winners to strengthen and expand existing businesses as well as turn innovative ideas into solid businesses.

    Speaking at the launch, President Goodluck Jonathan said the new enterprise fund would enable those who have won previous grants from the YouWin programme take their businesses to the next level.

    According to him, the fund which needs a seed capital of $50 million would require hard work on the side of government, adding that if government works hard it can attract more investors to contribute to ongoing effort.

    He said: “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 said the new fund will be managed by independent fund managers alongside the government and “you will not need to know somebody to access it”.

    He said selection will be highly competitive as it will be based strictly on merit.

    He commended the efforts of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the  economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who has successfully coordinated three batches of the YouWin programme.

    He said from available records, the first and second edition of the YouWin has created 22,000 jobs.