Unity Bank Plc has announced winners in the 27th edition of its flagship Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, also known as Corpreneurship Challenge, following the conclusion of Business Pitch at the Batch C, Stream 2 edition of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation programme held across 10 states of the federation.

Unity Bank

Notably, Corps Members who graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), The Polytechnic, Ibadan, amongst several tertiary institutions, emerged from the latest round of the Corpreneurship Challenge business pitch. Participants pitched business ideas across diverse sectors such as fashion, agribusiness, footwear production, and services.

At the Lagos State NYSC Orientation Camp, Awolumate Fawaz Babatunde, a Civil Engineering graduate of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, emerged the overall winner after pitching a fashion design business, clinching the N800,000 grand prize. Ugwoke Daniel Ifechukwu, a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, emerged first runner-up to receive N500,000.

In Rivers State, Abdur-Razaq Sayfullah Adebola, a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, topped the competition at the Nonwa Gbam Tai NYSC Orientation Camp with a footwear-making business plan. Meanwhile, Olatunde Esther Funmilayo of Olabisi Onabanjo University emerged as the winner at the Kwara State NYSC Orientation Camp after impressing judges with her deodorant production and services pitch.

More winners emerged from Abuja, Niger, Adamawa, Jigawa, Plateau, Kaduna, and Delta States, further expanding the geographical reach and impact of the initiative.

Speaking on the latest edition of the programme, Mrs. Adenike Abimbola, Divisional Head, Retail, SME & E-Business at Unity Bank Plc, said the Corpreneurship Challenge continues to reflect the Bank’s commitment to youth empowerment and enterprise development.

“The Corpreneurship Challenge has been driven by our commitment to boosting entrepreneurship among young people, especially fresh graduates. At Unity Bank, we recognise that many young Nigerians possess viable business ideas but lack the initial capital and support to bring them to life. The Corpreneurship Challenge was designed to bridge that gap by providing financial backing, mentorship, and confidence to fresh graduates at a critical stage of their lives,” she said.

She added that the quality of ideas presented by corps members across states underscores the growing entrepreneurial appetite among Nigerian youths.

“What we see every edition is innovation, resilience, and a strong desire among young graduates to create value and jobs. By supporting them early, we are not only helping individuals, but also contributing to the growth of the SME ecosystem and the broader economy,” Abimbola noted.

Over the years, the Unity Bank Corpreneurship Challenge has become a key feature of the NYSC orientation programme, delivered in partnership with the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) initiative. Since its inception, the programme has produced 638 young entrepreneurs nationwide, offering grants of up to N300 million to help corps members kick-start or scale their businesses.

The initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s drive to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment among graduates, particularly amid the shrinking availability of white-collar jobs.

Unity Bank said it remains committed to expanding the reach of the Corpreneurship Challenge and deepening its support for young entrepreneurs as part of its broader strategy to drive financial inclusion, job creation, and sustainable economic growth.

Nigeria Insurance Deposit Corporation (NDIC) has guaranteed customers of insured commercial banks prompt recovery of their deposits in the event of risk liability or liquidation.

In addition, the corporation assured depositors of its statutory mandate, which includes supervising banks for risk assessment, ensuring ethical standards, and enhancing financial stability in the country.

Mrs Emily Osuji, executive director, Corporate Services, NDIC,  gave the assurance during a Stakeholders Town Hall Meeting on customer protection regarding bank charges and deposits in Kano.

Mrs Osuji posited that the NDIC has, in recent times, demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting the hard-earned savings of Nigerians and sustaining confidence in the banking system.

She cited the cases of defunct Heritage Bank Limited, Union Homes Plc and Aso Savings and Loans Plc, where depositors received their deposits promptly after meeting the relevant requirements.

The NDIC boss, however, reminded customers to link their Bank Verification Number (BVN) as a unique identifier to locate their alternate accounts, where their claims will be transferred.

The executive director affirmed that NDIC has expanded coverage to protect about 99 per cent of depositors in Nigeria, a deliberate policy aimed at protecting small savers, promoting financial inclusion, and enhancing trust in the banking sector.

She said, “The corporation fulfils its role through its core mandates of deposit guarantee, bank supervision, distress resolution and bank liquidation, all of which are geared towards protecting the hard-earned savings of Nigerians and sustaining confidence in the banking system.

“Our strapline, ‘Protecting your bank deposits!’, is more than mere words for us. We stand by this statement as a firm commitment to our mandate of ensuring that depositors have access to their hard-earned savings in the event of bank failure.

“This is a critical responsibility that we do not take lightly. This is especially so in times of financial uncertainty and distress, with the NDIC standing as a pillar of safety and reassurance for depositors, particularly the most vulnerable.”

Speaking on the concept of stakeholder engagement, Hawwau Gambo, head of Communication and Public Affairs,  said the corporation was compelled to provide clarity, build trust and strengthen depositor confidence amid misconceptions.

Gambo noted that the recent revocation of the operating licences of some banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) and the current public discourse on banks’ recapitalisation efforts have reinforced the need for sustained stakeholder engagement.

She reminded that sustained awareness is pertinent to dust, given already heightened public interest and featured public confidence in the financial institutions.

“NDIC’s last Public Awareness Survey highlighted the need to enhance interpersonal communication channels to improve public understanding of deposit insurance. It is against this backdrop that the Stakeholders’ Town Hall Meetings were conceived as a structured, interactive platform for dialogue, education and feedback,” Gambo noted.

The Central Bank of Nigeria in its 2025 Fintech Policy Insight Report, has raised concern over Nigeria’s fintech sector heavily dependent on foreign investment, exposing it to swings in global markets.

The report said the sector has shown resilience despite global economic pressures, but warned that reliance on external capital leaves it vulnerable to market fluctuations.

It would be recalled that startups in the country raised $520m in equity funding in 2024, down from about $747m in 2019, when Nigeria captured roughly 37 per cent of all African startup investment.

This performance, amid significant global macroeconomic gyrations, underscores Nigeria’s position as a key hub for financial innovation. The sharp rise in interest rates in advanced economies during 2022 contributed to a slowdown in venture capital funding.

“These dynamics highlight the importance of developing domestic funding avenues, such as leveraging Nigeria’s capital markets, to reduce currency risk and sustain fintech growth,” the apex bank stated.

Olayemi Cardoso, CBN Governor, said Nigeria is undergoing a rapid and significant financial evolution. Over the past decade, the nation’s fintech landscape has grown from a handful of startups into one of Africa’s most vibrant innovation ecosystems.

“Even amid global economic headwinds, Nigerian fintech firms continued to attract investment and drive change. Today, with improved stability of our currency and domestic economy, it is clearer than ever that financial innovation can advance inclusion at scale,” the executive commented on the report.

In addition to funding, the central bank underscored Nigeria’s continued leadership in digital financial infrastructure. More than 25 per cent of all electronic transactions in Africa’s most populous nation are processed via real-time payment channels, with close to 11 billion transactions processed in 2024, up from five billion in 2022. The report described Nigeria’s instant payments platform, NIBSS NIP, as among the most mature and widely adopted globally.

The report also mentioned the need to strengthen system integrity and reputation, pointing to compliance reforms, anti-money laundering supervision, and consumer protection measures as key priorities for sustaining investor confidence.

By focusing on domestic funding, regulatory modernisation, and innovation infrastructure, the CBN aims to position Nigeria not only as a fintech front-runner but also as a rule-setter whose regulatory lessons are relevant to peer emerging and high-growth economies globally, the central bank said.

Stakeholders surveyed by the CBN also cited compliance costs as a significant challenge to innovation. According to the report, 87.5 per cent of respondents said that the cost of meeting regulatory and risk requirements significantly impacts their capacity to innovate, while delays in product approvals and regulatory timelines also remain major bottlenecks.

The report noted that 62.5 per cent of fintech firms plan to expand regionally, and there is strong support for regulatory pass-porting frameworks to enable compliant expansion into other African markets. However, the CBN warns that such cross-border growth requires a stable funding base and coordinated regulation.