In recognition of Unity Bank Plc’s contribution to the growth of entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths, the National YouthService Corps, NYSC has named the lender “Icon of Youth Empowerment” in an award presented to the Bank during the Skills Acquisition & Entrepreneurship Department, SAED Festival held in Abuja recently.
The NYSC management said it was on record that Unity Bank under theable leadership of the MD/CEO, Mrs. Tomi Somefun had beenunwavering in its commitment and support for the Skills Acquisition andEntrepreneurship Development programme of the NYSC as evident in theCorpreneurship initiative through which businesses of hundreds of corpsentrepreneurs are being funded. “In view of the foregoing, NYSC Management honours (Unity Bank) withthe award of “Icon of Youth Empowerment” at the closing ceremonyof the 2021 NYSC SAED Festival at NAF conference centre, Abuja on this17th Day of December 2021,” said the Director-General of the NYSC,Brigadier General S. Ibrahim, while presenting the award to Unity Bank.
Speaking after receiving the award, the Group Head, Retail, SME and E-Banking, Mr. Olufunwa Akinmade said: “We are encouraged by thisaward to continue to partner with SAED in driving the Corpreneurshipinitiative. We believe that the Corpreneurship Challenge possesses thecapacity to unlock the entrepreneurship ingenuity of the youths inNigeria. “We commend the leadership of the NYSC for the award, even as weappreciate the leadership and the team at SAED for working hard tomake this partnership produce the desired outcome. We are optimisticthat the partnership will be sustained for as long as possible until it hasimpacted a critical mass that considerably reduces graduate unemployment in our nation.
”The Corpreneurship Challenge, which earned the lender the award is abusiness plan competition that provides corps members with theopportunity to pitch their business ideas and stand a chance of winning business grants ranging from N200,000 to N500,0000 as business capitalwhile receiving mentorship. =Unity Bank premiered the Corpreneurship Challenge in 2019, with alaunch in Lagos and in three other states which included Edo, Ogun, andAbuja, but with the increasing popularity of the initiative among corpsentrepreneurs, the Bank has now extended the programme to 10 statesof the federation including Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, Edo, Katsina, Enugu,Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto and Kaduna. So far, Unity Bank has invested over N80 million in the initiative, whichhas now produced 58 winners since it was launched.
