1m Jobs to be created by CBN for graduates in 2016 ⌂

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the bank would be creating employment for at least one million graduates in 2016.

 The bank chief expressed that this would be done by harnessing the power of small and medium enterprise across the 36 states of the federation.

 Speaking at the opening ceremony of the seventh annual bankers’ committee retreat in Lagos, Emefiele said CBN was going to work with commercial banks in delivering this.

 “We need to get more and more people to be employed, and we will need the support of the banks to begin to see how we lower our risk acceptance criteria to give support to our young graduates,” he said.

“In the course of the next few weeks, we will be unfolding a plan of support of the CBN to create employment for at least one million young graduates in Nigeria in 2016. “That will entail support from Nigerian banks and our development institutions to see how we will channel these concessionary loans to companies that are MSMEs.”

Emefiele, who was stern in his approach, said the banks must give young graduates a chance to access the CBN’s N220bn micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) fund. “I am saying if you refuse to support, your money that we would have released through the cash reserve ratio (CRR), we will take that money and lend it through any channel that will give these young graduates jobs.

THE CABLE