NIGERIA YOUNG PROFESSIONALS FORUM (NYPF) YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS & STUDENTS GRANT

Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) – Young Entrepreneurs & Students Grant (YESGrant) in partnership with Heritage Bank Limited.

NYPF Young Entrepreneurs & Students Grant Scheme Programme (YESGrant) for only registered members of the Forum.

This programme is an initiative of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, which is born out of the enormous challenges young aspiring entrepreneurs and students go through in their quest towards achieving set goals in their small scale businesses and academic pursuits respectively. As you may be aware that the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum has been in the lead of building the next generation of business frontiers and the huge impact we have created with our educational intervention programmes for children in rural communities across the Nation.

GOAL OF THE PROGRAMME
The main objective of the NYPF Young Entrepreneurs & Students Grant (YESGrant) Programme is to deliberately generate jobs by encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas that will lead to massive job creation and encourage the culture of self-reliance. The programme will provide aspiring entrepreneurs with a platform to show case their business expertise, skills and aspirations to business leaders, investors and mentors in Nigeria and it will also be a motivation for Nigerian students to achieve their academic pursuits. The YesGrant will be open to both male and female between the ages of 18 - 40 years.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME:
• The main objective of this grants is to encourage young Nigerians and it will focus on three (3) major key sectors:
1. Agriculture:
2. Creative Economy
3. Information & Communication Technology (ICT)

ENTREPRENEURS:
• Attract ideas and innovations from young entrepreneurial postulants from Universities, Polytechnics, Technical colleges, and other post-Secondary institutions in Nigeria;
• Provide a onetime grant for over 500 selected aspiring entrepreneurs to start or expand their business concepts and mitigate start up risks;
• Generate 50,000 to 60,000 new jobs for currently unemployed young Nigerians over five years period during which the five cycles will be implemented;
• Provide business training for up to 500 aspiring young entrepreneurs;
• Encourage expansion, specialization and spin-offs of existing businesses in Nigeria;
• Enable young entrepreneurs to access a wide business professional network and improve their visibility.
• Entrepreneurs can receive up to 2million Naira annually as grant.
STUDENTS:
• Enable Nigerian students with extreme financial need pursue their academic dreams and aspiration
• Encourage students in the areas of research and technological/scientific innovation
• Help low income and disadvantage students with their tuition fees
• Encourage Nigerian students take part in international exchange programmes
• 500 students will benefit from this grant annually, even those studying abroad
• Students studying in Nigeria will receive up to 500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) while those studying in the United Kingdom will receive up to 3,000pounds and those studying in the United States will receive up to 5,000dollars annually as grant.

YESGrant AWARD RECIPIENTS:
• YesGrant! Will be an equity contribution to a business. It will NOT BE A LOAN but a grant.
• Award recipients must be registered members of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF)
• Award recipients will be paid according to the needs of the business and specific mile-stones stated in their business plan.
• Award recipients must be registered with CAC before disbursement of funds even though they do not need to be registered to apply. NYPF will support the registration process.
• Award recipients will operate account using their registered companies with Heritage Bank prior to disbursement including students.
• Award recipients must sign a grant agreement with the managers of YesGrant before disbursement of funds.
• Award recipients must provide student matriculation number and academic progression report.

YESGrant PROCESS:
• Applicants will be encouraged to apply as early as possible after the opening date.
• We will make sure the information they supply in relation to dates of birth, Membership numbers, etc. is correct, to avoid delays in the processing of their application.
• They will Supply the documentation requested, correctly first time and on time.
• We will use the application tracker in their online account to check the progress of what they have submitted at any stage.

Step 1
Make Application – After official launch scheduled on the 22nd March 2016
Step 2
Supply Supporting Documentation – on or before the 16th of June 2016
Step 3
Receive Grant Decision – 23rd July 2016
Step 4
Receive Payment – 1st of August 2016
Applications will be made through the grants online application system available at www.yesgrant.com