June 30, 2025 – The Federal Government has teamed up with the Youths Off The Street Initiative (YOTSI) to launch the $2.5 billion YEIDEP Global Donorship Drive and Fundraising Campaign. This major initiative will finance the Cooperative Youth Farmers and Allied Entrepreneurs Programme (CYFAEP), a sub-project under the broader Youth Economic Intervention and De-Radicalization Programme (YEIDEP).
The goal is to support youth and women across Nigeria through agricultural entrepreneurship and skills development, helping them build sustainable livelihoods.
YEIDEP is a flagship economic empowerment program led by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development in partnership with YOTSI and several international donors. It was developed to address multiple national challenges, including high youth unemployment, food insecurity, economic exclusion, and the growing issue of youth radicalization.
At the official launch, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, the Coordinator-General of YEIDEP, revealed that the programme has already registered six million Nigerian youths and young women. He said the plan is to grow this number to twenty million by 2027, building a nationwide network of cooperative youth farmers and agro-allied entrepreneurs.
“This initiative will drastically reduce youth and women unemployment, boost food production, ensure food security, alleviate household poverty, and foster youth economic inclusion and de-radicalization,” Iyere said.
Iyere emphasized that YEIDEP will provide financial support, technical know-how, mentorship, and market access to beneficiaries. These components are intended to help young people succeed in agribusiness and other allied sectors, offering real economic inclusion opportunities.
To ensure transparency and efficient fund management, YEIDEP has secured partnerships with eight major commercial banks in Nigeria. These include Keystone Bank, Fidelity Bank, Lotus Bank, Union Bank, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, and Providus Bank. These banks will oversee the receipt, safekeeping, and disbursement of funds for the programme.
According to Iyere, “The launch of the YEIDEP Global Donorship Drive and Fundraising Campaign marks a significant step towards addressing Nigeria’s key problems of chronic youth unemployment, economic exclusion, food insecurity, and youth radicalization.”
He appealed to international donors, development organizations, governments at all levels, private corporations, business leaders, and influential individuals to support the campaign financially. Their contributions, he noted, will help secure a better economic future for Nigeria’s youth.
“YEIDEP’s goal is to empower twenty million young Nigerians through entrepreneurship and self-employment in agriculture, food and beverage, agro-allied industries, agritech, renewable energy, and more, fostering economic growth, political stability, and national security,” Iyere added.
He issued a strong warning about the risks of ignoring the country’s youth crisis: “Unless these key social and economic problems are drastically addressed, Nigeria remains a fragile country dangerously sitting on a keg of gunpowder, as the time bomb of youth unemployment ticks daily toward a disastrous explosion. YEIDEP must be embraced and supported by all Nigerians, beyond political interest and affiliation.”
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