Former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has urged Nigeria to increase investment in young entrepreneurs, stressing that access to affordable financing is critical to business growth, job creation and wealth generation.
Adesina made the call on Monday while delivering a speech titled, “Building the Demographic Asset Class”, at the Seyi Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos.
He said Nigeria needed a financial system that recognised the potential of young entrepreneurs and provided them with funding opportunities, rather than excluding them because they lacked conventional collateral.
“When a young person walks into a bank, what the bank often sees is not an asset. It sees a risk,” he said.
According to him, the traditional approach to lending has continued to limit access to credit for young business owners who may have viable ideas but lack the assets required by financial institutions.
Adesina said young Nigerians were eager to succeed but needed financial institutions willing to take calculated risks and invest in their potential.
He identified the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank model as a major intervention designed to address the funding gap and enable young entrepreneurs to establish and expand sustainable businesses.
The former AfDB president disclosed that the African Development Bank had committed $100m to support the establishment of the model in Nigeria, with additional investments from the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and the Development Bank of Nigeria.
He explained that the initiative was intended to achieve more than conventional youth empowerment programmes by enabling young Nigerians to build businesses, generate income and accumulate wealth.
“Its purpose is not simply to provide another form of youth empowerment. The goal is to build youth-based wealth for Nigeria,” he said.
Adesina said the initiative would focus on identifying promising businesses, providing the capital they need to grow and helping them create jobs and lasting economic value.
He expressed optimism that the programme would become operational, noting that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was working towards rolling it out.
“I am delighted that the government of President Bola Tinubu is working to roll out this important initiative,” he said.
Adesina said the programme could strengthen young Nigerians' confidence in the country's commitment to supporting their ambitions and creating opportunities for them to succeed.
He added that sustained investment in youth-led businesses could help Nigeria produce a new generation of successful African entrepreneurs.
The former AfDB chief also outlined what he described as a pathway to unlocking the economic potential of young people, linking skills development with access to finance and markets.
According to him, equipping young Nigerians with technological skills, connecting them to capital and opening up market opportunities would enable them to establish businesses and employ others.
“Build capability. Connect it to capital. Connect it to markets. Create enterprise. Generate value,” he said.
Adesina explained that young people equipped with technology skills could become creators and entrepreneurs, while growing businesses could evolve into employers that generate income, innovation and wealth.
He described this process as the “Demographic Asset Class”, arguing that investing in young people's capabilities and entrepreneurial ambitions could deliver significant economic returns for Nigeria.
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