FG rolls out YouthCred Initiative for NYSC members

The federal government has rolled out the YouthCred programme, even as it encouraged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to take advantage of the initiative.

Speaking on Thursday in Abuja while flagging off the scheme at the orientation camp for NYSC Batch B Stream 1 members, minister of youth development, Ayodele Olawande, said the initiative was a bold step towards empowering young Nigerians and giving them a solid footing in a credit-based economy.

Business Hallmark reports that YouthCred is a national credit scheme geared towards providing affordable consumer credit to 400,000 young Nigerians, including members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The sum of N9billion has been earmarked for the first phase of the programme.

Specifically, it will see eligible Corps Members accessing up to a N200,000 single-digit interest loan.
Olawande noted that many Nigerian youths need not a handout but access to structured credit and a government that sees them as partners in national development.

He said, “This is no longer about cosmetic policies. We are talking about structural empowerment,” he said. “For the first time, you have a president who is not just ruling but leading. That’s the difference.”