Opening Remarks by
Dr. Godwin I. Emefiele, CON
At the Official Launching of the Tertiary Institutions
Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES)
Thursday, 25th November, 2021
Protocols
Good afternoon, Distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen.
I am pleased to welcome you to the official
launching of the Tertiary Institutions
Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES), an
intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria aimed
at addressing the dual challenge of youth
unemployment and underemployment in
Nigeria. The Scheme, developed in partnership
with Nigerian polytechnics and universities, is
designed to harness the potentials of graduate
entrepreneurs by creating a paradigm shift from
the pursuit of white-collar jobs to a culture of
entrepreneurship for economic development and
job creation.
1. As you are all aware, at the occasion of the
51st convocation of the University of Lagos,
in July 2021, I delivered the convocation
lecture titled, National Development and
Knowledge Economy in the Digital Age:
Leapfrogging SMEs into the 21st Century. At
that event, I promised that the Central Bank
will seek fresh collaboration with the nation's
tertiary institutions to develop
entrepreneurship programmes, and to
support-through the provision of access to
finance-graduates and undergraduates
who have bankable ideas, to bring the ideas
to fruition. Engagements have been on-going
between the Central Bank and the leadership
of some of our tertiary institutions regarding
the framework for an innovative financing
model that will support entrepreneurship
development among our graduates and
undergraduates. This launch of the Tertiary
Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme today,
is a culmination of the engagements and
fulfillment of that promise.
2. With about 600,000 students graduating
yearly from Nigerian tertiary institutions, and
without the commensurate employment
opportunities in both the public and private
sectors, it has become imperative that
government, at all levels, puts in place policy
measures to support entrepreneurial
development among our youth. Such
measures would create an enabling
business ecosystem that supports innovation
and enables the youth to unleash their
entrepreneurial potential, by redirecting their
focus from seeking white-collar jobs to a
culture of entrepreneurship development.
The ecosystem should provide support in re-
orientating, training, and providing a
financing model apt to the peculiarity of the
sector within which the businesses operate.
3. Ladies and Gentlemen, entrepreneurship is
an integral part of any economy, and
entrepreneurs play a key role in driving
growth and innovation, which in turn results
in job creation. In line with its mandate of
ensuring monetary and price stability, and its
developmental mandate of ensuring
inclusive growth in the economy, the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced
several programmes that create an
ecosystem that allows the flow of affordable
credit to the real sector. These interventions
are industry-led and designed to support the
resilience of targeted priority sectors and
segments for growth and jobs creation.
4. With an estimated population of 213 million,
out of which two-third are youth, aged under
35 years, the nation is faced with a historic
opportunity, particularly as the demography
continues to create clear evidence of their
relevance to economic development, as
accentuated by the global recognition of
Nigerian tech start-ups and continued growth
of businesses in the technology space
owned by the youth.
5. In realization of this, the CBN has introduced
several innovative financing programmes
designed to extend low-cost financing to
youth entrepreneurs across the country.
These interventions have continued to
receive resounding commendations, as they
have proven effective in extending credit to
youth entrepreneurs across the country. For
instance, under its Targeted Credit Facility
(TCF), the Bank has disbursed a total of
₦363.49 billion to 766,719 beneficiaries,
comprising 638,070 households and 128,
649 small businesses. Under its
Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprise
Investment Scheme (AgSMEIS), the Bank
has released ₦134.63 billion to 37,571
entrepreneurs. Disbursements under the
NYIF stood at ₦3.00 billion to 7,057 small
business beneficiaries.
6. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as part
of measures to promote entrepreneurship
development among the graduate and
undergraduate youths of Nigerian
polytechnics and universities, the Central
Bank of Nigeria introduced the Tertiary
Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES)
in October 2021, with the release of the
implementation guidelines and the opening
of the portal for submission of applications.
The Scheme is aimed at providing an
innovative financing model that will support
the development of innovative
entrepreneurial ideas among graduates and
undergraduates of tertiary institutions in
Nigeria.
7. Today's official launch of the TIES and
subsequent inauguration of the Body of
Experts (BoE) for the Scheme's
Developmental Component is a testimony of
the important roles the youth play in building
new blocks for economic growth, particularly
as our national growth is highly dependent on
a strong and competitive businesses.
Bridging their financing gaps and enhancing
access to low-cost credit to drive
development of business is a task that can
only be addressed by an innovative financing
model that correlates with the complexity and
dynamics of these small businesses.
8. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, let me
state that the Scheme was designed to
address three (3) verticals of the segment,
and these are:
i. The Term Loan Component - provides
direct credit opportunities to graduates of
Nigerian polytechnics and universities of
not more than seven years post-
graduation. An applicant, if successful,
shall be eligible for a maximum of ₦5
million for an individual, sole-
proprietorship or small company; and a
maximum of ₦25 million for a partnership
or company. The tenor for the facility is
maximum of five (5) years, with a one-
year moratorium, and at an interest of 5
per cent per annum, which shall revert to
9 per cent from March 2022. The pilot
phase of the Scheme is presently being
implemented through the Bank of
Industry (BOI) with the development of
an application portal and processing of
submitted applications.
ii. The Equity Investment Component - is
designed to support start-ups, existing
businesses requiring expansion, and
ailing businesses seeking resuscitation.
The Component shall be implemented
under the Bank's AgSMEIS Equity
Window. Thus, the investment limit shall
be subject to the limit prescribed by the
AGSMEIS Guidelines and the
investment period not more than ten (10)
years.
iii. The Developmental Grant Component
- is aimed at raising awareness and
visibility of entrepreneurship among
undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary
institutions. Here, polytechnics and
universities in Nigeria shall compete in a
national biennial entrepreneurship
competition where undergraduates are
presented by the tertiary institutions to
pitch innovative entrepreneurial or
technological ideas with transformational
potential. Three (3) top institutions at the
regional levels shall proceed to the
national level, where the top five (5) shall
be awarded grants ranging between
₦120 million and ₦250 million.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it
is instructive to note that grant awards
shall be used by the tertiary institutions
solely for the development of the award-
willing ideas.
9. At this juncture, I wish to express my sincere
gratitude to the Body of Experts (BoE)
comprising professionals of impeccable
standing, drawn from the academia,
professional bodies, and industry. The Body
has been constituted to evaluate and rank
entrepreneurial presentations made by the
tertiary institutions under the Developmental
(Grant) Component. More importantly, the
BoE shall recommend projects with high
potential and transformational impact for
grant awards.
10.
The Body of Experts is to be inaugurated
later today and they are:
i. Chairman - Mr. Abubakar Suleiman (Sterling Bank
Plc)
ii. Member - Mr. Patrick Iyamabo (First Bank Plc)
iii. Member - Mr. Adamu Lawani (Zenith Bank Plc)
iv. Member - Ms. Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo (Rand
Merchant Bank)
v. Member - Mr. Ashafa Ladan (National University
Commission)
vi. Member - Engr. Abbati D.K. Muhammad (National
Board for Technical Education)
vii. Member - Dr. Friday Okpara (SMEDAN)
viii. Member - Mr. Tope Fasua (Global Analytics
Consulting)
ix. Member -Brigadier-General Folusho Oyinlola
(National Defence College)
x. Member - Ms. Bolanle Adekoya (PWC)
Secretary - Mrs. Temitope Akin-Fadeyi (CBN)
xi.
11. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, today
as well, cheques shall be presented to five
(5) beneficiaries under the Term Loan
Component of the Scheme. These
beneficiaries are among the many who
submitted their applications via the dedicated
portal and their applications processed. I
would like to urge the recipients of these
loans to judiciously utilize the funds for the
purpose for which they had indicated in their
applications. It is my strong belief that the
Scheme will offer our youth entrepreneurs
access to much needed finance, which has
been identified as one of the major limiting
factors to entrepreneurship development in
Nigeria.
12. We are aware that there has been agitations
by some tertiary institutions that were not
included in the pilot phase of the Scheme.
Let me reiterate here that with the launch of
Scheme today, other deserving tertiary
institutions will be brought on board over
time. With ongoing dialogue and
engagements with other segments of the
educational sector, feedbacks received shall
form the basis for the periodic review of the
guidelines, with the intent to scale up
participation under the Scheme in future.
13. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me
restate the Central Bank of Nigeria's total
and unrelenting commitment to supporting
the country's educational sector in all
ramifications, as without a robust educational
sector wholesome development shall remain
a mirage. I believe with the launch of the
Scheme, and other programmes such as
this, it is only a matter of time before our
tertiary institutions return to the glory days,
where they churned out graduates, not only
ready and able to provide real solutions to
the various challenges emanating from their
immediate environment and even beyond,
but who can compete favourably with their
counterparts around the world.
14. I would like to conclude with a clarion call to
Nigerian youths, particularly our graduates
and undergraduates, that they should not
succumb to the weight of despair regarding
the challenges being faced by the nation. I
challenge you today to pull yourselves up by
your bootstraps, take up the challenge of
undertaking that paradigm shift, by applying
innovative and creative thinking in providing
solutions capable of creating wealth and
value for yourself, your community and the
nation at large.
Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your time.
CON
Dr. Godwin I. Emefiele,
Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
November 25, 2021