The Federal Government has reaffirmed that the N50 million venture capital grant for outstanding students in Nigerian tertiary institutions is still on course.
It explained that the process of identifying and selecting qualified students has commenced across universities and polytechnics, emphasising that the initiative will enable institutions to showcase the ingenuity and problem-solving abilities of their students.
Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, stated this in Abuja while hosting the Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Barrister Imeh Okon.
According to Echono, each institution is expected to select students with promising and innovative ideas, while a national committee made up of experts from various fields will review the shortlisted candidates and make the final selections. He said all necessary arrangements for the take-off of the initiative have been completed, including the provision of the seed fund and the design of the selection modalities.
Echono noted that the move is part of the government’s effort to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation among young Nigerians through tertiary education funding. He stressed that the project aligns with TETFund’s mandate to support research and innovation in tertiary institutions, adding that the Fund will continue to collaborate with relevant agencies to ensure that students’ creative ideas are transformed into viable business ventures.
“There are students in our various TETFund beneficiary institutions who have demonstrated some creative abilities and come up with products, services, or solutions that they will need to take to the market to commercialise, to get buy-in from manufacturers and venture capitalists. The Federal Government will create a fund,” Echono said.
He explained that the venture capital fund will be managed by the Bank of Industry (BoI), noting that it will support product development from the idea stage to the point of commercialization. “That fund is going to be managed by the Bank of Industry. And when that happens, we’ll be able to help support development in terms of prototyping and even proof of concept, down to development of the initial product, to make it readily available for the private sector to adopt and commercialise by multiplication,” he added.
Echono confirmed that the fund is already in place and that all relevant meetings and arrangements have been concluded. “We have set the machinery in motion. The fund is in place. We have a seed fund that we have established, and that funding has been provided. We’ve held a series of meetings with all the parties. The modalities for selection are already being worked out and are happening at the level of the institutions because it is the institutions that know their students who have come up with ideas that have shown promise,” he said.
According to him, once the national committee completes the initial phase of assessment and makes its first selections, the successful beneficiaries will be officially announced. “By the time the committee comes up with the first set of selections, we will call the media, and the beneficiaries will come and receive their prizes,” Echono stated.
He explained that the amount to be awarded will depend on the nature and scale of each student’s innovation, but the maximum grant available will be N50 million. “It can be anything up to N50 million to be able to achieve that,” he said, reaffirming that the initiative is progressing as planned.
The Guardian reports that in July this year, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the Federal Government’s offer of a N50 million venture capital grant to outstanding students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines.
Tagged the Student Grant Venture Capital Initiative, the minister said the programme would provide up to N50 million in grants to high-achieving STEMM students in Nigerian universities, beginning from 300 Level. He explained that the initiative aims to reward creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship among young Nigerians who show exceptional skills in their academic and research work.
Although the initiative was expected to be rolled out between September and October this year, The Guardian learnt that the final stage of evaluation and approval is still being concluded by the national committee in charge of the programme.
The fund, established through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI), is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Tayo Aduloju.
