Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has said the Kwara State Government is planning to establish a N5bn youth job creation and entrepreneurship development scheme.

Speaking during a public enlightenment programme in Ilorin on Monday, the governor said the government had already provided N350m revolving loan for the scheme.

He added that the government had also made N150m made available for the scheme.

Noting that there should be a paradigm shift from youths looking for paid employment to being wealth and job creators, the governor identified lack of access to funding as a major inhibitor to wealth creation and entrepreneurship development.

The governor also inaugurated the N1m revolving micro-credit scheme for artisans in the state.

Ahmed said his administration was committed to supporting the informal sector through improved access to affordable credit and capacity building programmes, adding that it would make the beneficiaries to be economically vibrant.

He stated that the government would continue to make funds available to small and medium enterprises.

The governor said, "The funding, made available so far to the tune of N350m, is expected to continue to grow up to N5bn over time so that our youths will continuously have access to entrepreneurship funding from microfinance banks.

"On the strength of that, we expect that we are creating a new generation of youths, who will not be looking forward to white-collar jobs, and who will rather be able to see windows available where they can drive themselves into entrepreneurship and wealth creation.

"The money is not exhaustive because it will continue to grow. The money is revolving. People will go there with their feasibility report, which ordinarily is determined based on the training they have received under skill acquisition programmes. They will now access the funds, utilise them and pay back. They can go back again, take, utilise and pay back."