Access Bank Plc, through the Accesspreneur program in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps [NYSC], has empowered 20 NYSC corps across the country with exceptional ideas with N30 million in grant.
A total of N30 million was given out to corps members with winning entrepreneurial ideas in Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Rivers states with the star winners receiving N1 million each.
The Group Head, Consumer Banking, Adaeze Umeh made the announcement during the NYSC-Access Bank Accessprenuer competition held in Abuja.
“Access Bank has been in a strategic partnership with NYSC since 2016. The relationship further evolved into the launch of Accessprenuer: The NYSC edition in February 2021. We have completed six editions of Accessprenuer competition, impacting over 390 corps members with over N165 million seed capital.
“We have also created a Facebook community for all Accessprenuer winners to be able to interact freely amongst themselves and inspire other young people with similar aspirations. The community has about 5,000 members”, Adaeze concluded.
Some of the beneficiaries expressed their profound gratitude to the bank for the financial support adding that it will go a long way to helping them achieve their dreams.
Abuja star-prize winner, Laura Momodu, a fashion designer thanked the bank for the gesture.
She said, “I thank Access Bank. I didn’t expect to win because fashion designing is something that everybody does. I want to say that I do not take this for granted and you will definitely see my name on TVs and billboards.”
Also, the first runner-up, Vivian Charles who was awarded with N750,000 for her ideas on healthy spices used for meals, was full of appreciation.
“I say a very big thank you to Access Bank; Access Bank has been able to help me achieve my dream in no small way. This is huge; this is massive to my business and will actually help me push forward.
“A very big thank you to Access Bank and I pray that utilizing this cash for what it is actually meant for, my business will not just grow but be heard across the globe”, Charles said.
The Bank also rewarded other corps members in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th -10th positions with N400,000, N250,000, N150,000, and N100,000 respectively.