The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that aided by its Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, corps members have utilised their acquired skills to establish more than 38,433 businesses.

Yusha’u Ahmed, the director-general of the NYSC, disclosed this during the 2024 SAED stakeholders’ meeting and debriefing of SAED schedule officers in Abuja on Wednesday.

Speaking on the theme, “Deepening the impact of the skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development – A panacea for graduate unemployment,” he said, the NYSC has provided entrepreneurship development training to more than 3,306,646 corps members, with 565,489 currently undergoing diverse training programmes.

Yusha’u Ahmed expressed satisfaction, noting that 38,463 of them have successfully launched their businesses and are thriving as employers, while 11,881 received financial empowerment from collaborating partners.”

The director-general emphasised NYSC’s commitment to enhancing the functionality of SAED and elevating its status as a leading model for youth empowerment in Nigeria.

“I, therefore, implore all partners gathered here to ensure greater dedication to the empowerment of these youths in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the president,” he said.

Ahmed stated that NYSC, via SAED, has built and transferred fully-equipped Skills Acquisition Centres for the North-East Zone in Gombe, the North Central Zone in Keffi, and the North West Zone in Kazaure, in collaboration with Access Bank plc.

He highlighted that the construction of the southwest centre in Ekiti State is nearing completion, and over 40 hectares of land have been acquired in Umuawulu, Anambra State, for the southeast centre, alongside other notable achievements.

The stakeholders’ meeting aimed to assess programme performance, review last year’s reports, address recommendations, and strategise for a new programme cycle and beyond.