The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) has officially launched YouthCred for Entrepreneurs, the third and most ambitious phase of its national youth credit programme. The launch event, held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja, marks the fulfillment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Democracy Day pledge to provide structured consumer credit to hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians.
A Promise Delivered in Three Phases
In his Democracy Day address, President Tinubu announced that the Federal Government would roll out YouthCred in phases: starting with NYSC Corps members, then employed youth, and finally young entrepreneurs. Phase one saw over 51,000 Corps members enrolled in the NYSC pilot, with more than 30,000 young Nigerians completing credit education and receiving financing. Phase two extended the programme to employed youth nationwide. Now, phase three completes the arc by bringing credit access to young business owners who operate Nigeria's markets, workshops, and storefronts.
Learn Before You Borrow: The Core Model
YouthCred is built on a simple discipline: real financial knowledge before real credit. Every participant must complete structured credit education before accessing a loan, learning how to borrow, budget, repay, and build a credit history responsibly. This learn-before-you-borrow model ensures that each cohort enters Nigeria's credit system educated, documented, and creditworthy, making the intervention durable and sustainable.
Inverting Traditional Lending for MSMEs
The entrepreneurs phase addresses a critical gap in conventional lending: more than 90% of Nigeria's MSMEs trade not as registered companies but in the name of the individual who built them. Traditional business credit demands corporate registration, audited accounts, and collateral—requirements that most young owners lack. YouthCred for Entrepreneurs inverts this model by extending working and growth capital of up to ₦2,000,000 directly to the entrepreneur (aged 18 to 35), underwritten on their education, affordability, and repayment record, not on paperwork their business was never structured to produce. Each disbursement opens a credit file, seeds a repayment history, and gives the owner the financial identity their hustle has always lacked—the foundation for formalisation, registration, and scale.
Coordinated National Investment
The programme is a coordinated national investment: the Federal Ministry of Finance provides policy anchor and oversight; CREDICORP provides capital and credit infrastructure; and Partner Financial Institutions handle last-mile delivery, underwriting, disbursement, and business support. Every naira is tied to clear eligibility, an affordability cap to prevent over-borrowing, and a transparent paper trail. This discipline underpins CREDICORP's non-performing loan rate of 0%, with public funds deployed as trust, not patronage.
“Mr. President made a commitment to Nigeria's young people, and today we complete its delivery: Corps members, employed youth, and now the entrepreneurs who power our markets and workshops. YouthCred for Entrepreneurs is capital deployed with discipline, matched to young Nigerians who are already building. This is how we unlock the next million Nigerian businesses,” said the Honourable Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele.
“Hardworking young Nigerians deserve structured credit, not charity,” said Uzoma Nwagba, Managing Director/CEO of CREDICORP. “More than 90% of our MSMEs trade in the name of the person who built them, so that is exactly how we built this credit line: for the individual, not just the entity. Every naira is tied to eligibility, repayment discipline and business growth, because when builders win, Nigeria wins.”
Delivery Begins at Launch
Delivery began immediately at the launch event. Wema Bank, the pilot Partner Financial Institution for the Entrepreneurs phase, onboarded applicants on the spot. The PFI network is set to expand in the coming months into markets, trade associations, and cooperative societies across all 36 states and the FCT, on the path to YouthCred's target of reaching one million young Nigerians. Across all its programmes, CREDICORP has now disbursed over ₦47 billion to more than 301,124 applicants nationwide, demonstrating that structured credit, extended responsibly, works for Nigeria.
How to Apply
The application portal is live at youthcred.com. Young entrepreneurs should visit, complete the credit education module, check their eligibility, and apply, or walk into a participating Partner Financial Institution as the rollout expands nationwide. The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), established in April 2024 under President Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, aims to accelerate access to consumer credit to 50% of all working Nigerians by 2030. YouthCred is its flagship youth credit and credit-education programme; with the Entrepreneurs phase now live, a young Nigerian can enter the credit system as a Corps Member, grow within it as an employed professional, and build a business on it as an entrepreneur—one credit identity, carried for life.
