The Federal Ministry of Youth Development, through the Nigerian Youth Academy, and entrepreneurship platform Cascador have awarded N49 million in non-dilutive grants to 17 young Nigerian founders. The awards followed a Pitch Day at the Afreximbank African Trade Centre in Abuja on Tuesday, 10 November, which concluded a four-week accelerator pilot called the NiYA-Cascador Founders Programme.
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The selection
The programme opened to applications on International Youth Day in August and attracted more than 19,000 entrepreneurs. Organisers selected 17 founders from 13 states across all six geopolitical zones. Eight received N5 million each and the other nine received N1 million each, which adds up to N49 million.
The eight Pitch Day winners include Andrew Ogbeh of SewPro, Ameedat Eniola Olaniyan of Sparklean Station Nigeria Limited, Khuzaifa Aminu of Shellify, Favour Ngozi Nnadi of Backel Food Services Limited, Godslove Emmanuel Asuquo of Agrosavvy Consult and Kabir Olaosebikan of Craft Planet.
Seventeen funded founders from more than 19,000 applicants is fewer than one in 1,000. The figure shows how far demand for small, practical grants exceeds what any single programme can supply.
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More than a cheque
The accelerator focused on investment readiness and business management, which are the areas where young founders often fall short when they approach funders. All 17 participants will also receive an enterprise resource planning solution to improve how they run their businesses. For a small firm, a system that tracks stock, sales and costs in one place can matter as much as the cash.
The 17 founders retain alumni status with the academy, giving them priority consideration for future opportunities. NiYA is the ministry’s digital youth empowerment platform, with an ambition to train and empower seven million Nigerian young people within two years.
Cascador Chief Executive Trish Thomas said the partnership reflects a shared commitment to giving young Nigerian founders the capital and practical support to build stronger businesses.
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Why the structure matters
Many government empowerment schemes hand out cash with little follow-up. This pilot combined selection, training, an operating tool and funding in a single sequence, then added a pathway to future support. That design gives the businesses a better chance of using the money to grow rather than to cover short-term costs.
What happens next
Cascador and the ministry have described the programme as a pilot. Whether it expands will depend on how the 17 businesses perform over the coming months, including how many hire staff, win customers and attract further funding.
Non-dilutive grants help a founder buy time and equipment without giving up ownership. The test of the pilot is whether that time turns into revenue.
