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Young Entrepreneurs Get N93m CBN, Heritage Bank Loan

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9 years ago

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The Central Bank of Ni
geria (CBN) in partnership with Heritage Bank on Thursday in Abuja disbursed N93 million to 310 young entrepreneurs in the country.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services,
Alhaji Sulieman Barau, presented a N3 million cheque to each of the young entrepreneurs.
The disbursement was carried out under the auspices of the bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP) in collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Emefiele said that the YEDP initiative was meant to inspire and harvest the entrepreneurial abilities of Nigerian youths toward creating over one million direct jobs by 2020.
He said that the programme was open to 18 to 35 years-old serving corps members, graduates or artisans.
He added that “to overcome the bottleneck of collateral requirements for loans, the beneficiaries’
academic and NYSC certificates, third party guarantees and movable assets are allowed as acceptable collateral under the Programme.
“The programme has a revolving fund with target to create more than one million direct jobs.
“We encourage all Nigerian youths that are interested in being their own boss to apply online through the participating banks.”
Emefiele said the bank had also commenced YEDP with other deposit money banks such as Sterling Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc.
He said that successful youth enterprise under the YEDP were expected to graduate to other interventions of the bank with larger finance opportunities.
The Managing Director, Heritage Bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, urged the CBN to expand the programme to accommodate more qualified youth entrepreneurs.
Quoting from the National Bureau of Statistics, Sekibo, who was represented by the bank’s Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Mrs Mary Akpobome, said there were about 64 million unemployed
youths in the country.
Sekibo said the bank currently has over 7,000 business proposals, thus it will require additional funding to cater for the needs of Nigerians.
He added that “N3 billion has been set aside at the initial stage for the programme that is why each participant is getting N3 million each, because the pilot programme is for a thousand people.
“As people begin to see the success of the programme, it is our hope that CBN will graciously extend the facility so that we can accommodate as many qualified young entrepreneurs as possible.”

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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22 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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22 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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22 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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