Enterprise Bank has introduced unique products and services to specially cater for young graduates who are brimming with ideas but do not have the financial capacity to bring their dreams into reality.
The product called Enterprise Graduate Empowerment Scheme (EGES), which was inspired by a personal experience the managing director/chief executive officer of the bank, Mallam Ahmed Kuru, had in an encounter with a bright but unemployed young graduate, “is designed to bridge the gap that exists between the innovative entrepreneurial ideas of young school leavers and access to the right financial support to transform these ideas into concrete money making enterprises.”
According to a statement from the bank, such candidates who must be university or polytechnic graduates of not more than three years prior to the time of application are to apply through the bank’s website for a pre-qualification exercise. Those candidates who meet with the criteria will now be invited, taken through an intensive business appreciation programme, where they will learn practical book keeping, market intelligence, human resource management, conceptualisation and implementation of business proposals among others. At the end of the programme, a test will be administered to select those that will participate in the Enterprise Graduate Empowerment Scheme.
Speaking during the launch recently in Lagos, the managing director/ chief executive officer stated that EGES is in line with both the Federal Government transformation agenda and that of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on growth towards promoting the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector of the economy.
A graduate of industrial chemistry, Yetunde Dehinbo, and a participant in the programme, lauded the scheme, adding that “it is for people like me who really do not want to work for anybody. I am currently into trading but will require assistance like EGES to take it to the next level.”
Olorunfemi Oluwasanmi Silas, who has just finished his National Youth Service Corps is an information and communication science said his desire is to go into the laundry business. He stated that EGES will be very key in helping young school leavers to find their rhythm quickly.