The Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD), through the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), announced a new partnership with Cascador, a Nigeria-focused platform for growth-stage founders, to fund and support the next generation of Nigerian youth entrepreneurs.
The announcement coincides with International Youth Day 2026, whose global theme this year — “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations” — calls on institutions to close the gap between young people’s circumstances and their opportunities.
The NiYA × Cascador Founders Program will run as a pilot cohort of 20 early-stage Nigerian youth founders, many without formal business registration or a financial track record. Over an intensive four-week curriculum, they’ll develop business fundamentals, investment readiness, and pitch preparation. At the program’s close, the eight top-performing founders will receive non-dilutive funding of up to ₦5 million each from Cascador, along with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution to help structure, manage, and scale their business operations, at a NiYA/FMYD-organized Pitch Day.
The pilot is an early step toward NiYA’s broader ambition to train and empower 7 million Nigerian youth within two years.
The program pairs NiYA and FMYD’s reach into Nigeria’s youth ecosystem with Cascador’s experience preparing founders for capital. NiYA and FMYD manage sourcing, training, and day-to-day delivery; Cascador helps define eligibility criteria, supports the cohort’s investment readiness, judges the participants’ pitches, and funds the program’s top performers.
Oyin Solebo, COO of Cascador and former Managing Director of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator, highlighted the partnership’s impact, saying
The Minister for Youth also speaks on what the pilot represents, stating,
The pilot will run in-person in Abuja with virtual touchpoints and 1:1 mentorship. All 20 graduates retain NiYA alumni status, with priority consideration for future opportunities.
