NELFUND Plans Expansion to Cover Vocational Training

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced plans to expand its loan scheme to cover vocational and skills acquisition centres across Nigeria, starting with Enugu State.

The initiative, which is expected to kick off within the next six to eight weeks, aims to support technical education in skills centres nationwide, including fashion design and other vocations.

According to the Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, the Fund has selected Enugu State as the starting point for the programme’s rollout due to its preparedness and existing infrastructure.

“We are working on it now, and we’re going to have some discussions with the executive governor and his team, because we want to start it here,” he said.

During a strategic engagement and sensitisation campaign in Enugu State, NELFUND officials met with key stakeholders, including the Enugu State Government, to discuss the implementation of the loan scheme. The Executive Director of Operations, Mr. Iyal Mustapha, highlighted Enugu’s readiness to absorb the support from NELFUND, citing the state’s world-class facilities and existing vocational and skills training centres.

“Enugu is going to be one of the first states or one of the first locations we are looking at to start. With what I see, there is a lot of positivity. We have seen different skill centers from the technical colleges to the vocational skill centers, like the fashion design, and they are all very positive for us at NELFUND,” Mustapha said.

The loan scheme will cater to training costs, offer upkeep stipends, and provide tools upon training completion. Beneficiaries will be able to apply through an online portal once it opens, and the scheme will be implemented in partnership with existing vocational and skills acquisition centres across the state.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Digital Economy and MSMEs and Director General of the Enugu SME Centre, Mr. Arinze Chilo-Offiah, expressed the state government’s commitment to youth empowerment through skills development. “We just wanted to show them the world-class facilities we have here to let NELFUND know that we are ready to key into the skills acquisition component of the fund,” he said.

The NELFUND team visited several educational and vocational institutions during their tour in Enugu, including the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu College of Education Technical, and the Government Technical College (GTC), which is currently undergoing reconstruction.