FG Partners Cascador To Provide N5M To Top Young Founders Via NiYA

The Minister of the Federal Ministry of youth development, announce that the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, through the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), is partnering with Cascador to launch the NiYA x Cascador Founders Programme, a new initiative that will prepare young Nigerian entrepreneurs for investment and provide up to #5 million each in non-dilutive funding to top-performing young founders.

According to him, this partnership is the direct outcome of our engagements with Cascador, including the follow-up meeting | hosted on 29 April, where we explored how their experience supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs could align with our broader youth development agenda. What began as a conversation around the table has now become a practical opportunity for young Nigerians.

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Under the pilot programme, selected early-stage youth founders will undergo an intensive four-week programme covering business fundamentals, investment readiness, pitch preparation and one-on-one mentorship. At the end, the top-performing founders will each receive up to #5 million in non-dilutive funding from Cascador, alongside an Enterprise Resource Planning solution to help them structure, manage and scale their businesses.

This is very important to me because our engagements as a Ministry must ultimately translate into opportunities that young Nigerians can see, access and benefit from.

Meetings are necessary, but the real measure of engagement is what comes out of them. When we sit with the private sector, development partners and investors, our objective is not the meeting itself; it private sector, development partners and investors, our objective is not the meeting itself; it is to build relationships that can unlock opportunities for Nigerian youth.

This partnership also advances the philosophy behind NiYA. We do not want to stop at training. We want to build a stronger bridge from learning to enterprise, from ideas to investment readiness, and from potential to sustainable businesses. Importantly, this pilot recognises that talented young Nigerians should not be excluded simply because they are still at an early stage or do not yet have the financial history and networks that traditionally open doors to capital.

Applications open Wednesday, 19 August 2026, through https://niya.gov.ng