The Plateau State Government has increased its youth empowerment fund to ₦4 billion to provide loans for young people to start businesses across the state.

Commissioner for Youths, Musa Ashoms, disclosed this on Monday during a youth empowerment programme held at the Federal Youth Centre in Jos North Local Government Area.

Ashoms explained that the expansion of the fund followed Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s recent engagement with youths at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre.

“During the inauguration of this training, we mentioned raising a supplementary budget of ₦2 billion. Just two days ago, the governor announced a package where a bank is willing to provide ₦2 billion, and the government will add counterpart funding of ₦2 billion, making it ₦4 billion, so that we can give our young people loans to start businesses,” he said.

The commissioner noted that the empowerment programme, under the Plateau Youth Employment and Skill Acquisition scheme, is designed to equip participants with practical skills in areas such as ICT, leather works, and fashion design.

“We’ve trained them in ICT, leather works, and fashion design. We hope they will return to their communities and make an impact. We’ve also given them starter packs and seed capital to help them set up businesses in their communities,” Ashoms added.

He commended Governor Mutfwang for promptly releasing the state’s counterpart funds to facilitate the programme.

Zonal Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Deborah Pitmang, also hailed the initiative, describing the Plateau National Youth Centre as one of the most viable in North Central Nigeria.

“This is the very first time Plateau State itself is coming to do this kind of programme here. The training covered leather works, ICT, and fashion design. We trained 250 youths, and they were taught to form clusters and pool resources to maximise opportunities,” Pitmang said.

One of the beneficiaries, Peter Daboer, expressed gratitude, noting that the programme had rekindled the hopes and dreams of many participants.

“The programme has equipped us with the skills, knowledge, and confidence necessary to excel in our chosen fields and contribute to the economic growth and development of Plateau State and the nation at large,” he said.