NiYA and Cascador Partner to Fund Nigeria’s Next-Gen Youth Entrepreneurs

To mark International Youth Day 2026, the Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD), through the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), has joined forces with growth-stage platform Cascador. Together, they are launching a transformative initiative to train, mentor, and fund the next generation of Nigerian youth entrepreneurs. Aligning with this year’s global theme, “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” the partnership directly addresses the financial and structural barriers that prevent young innovators from scaling their businesses.

Inside the 4-Week Accelerator

The newly unveiled NiYA × Cascador Founders Program begins as a focused pilot cohort featuring 20 early-stage entrepreneurs. Uniquely, the program caters to promising founders who often lack formal corporate registration, traditional credit history, or institutional funding networks. Hosted in Abuja with virtual touchpoints and individualized 1:1 mentorship, the four-week curriculum equips participants with foundational business skills, pitch readiness, and operational structure.

At the conclusion of the bootcamp, participants will showcase their business models during an official Pitch Day organized by NiYA and the FMYD. The eight top-performing founders will each secure up to ₦5 million in non-dilutive equity-free funding provided by Cascador, alongside an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution to streamline their daily business management and position them for sustainable growth.

Closing the Gap Between Youth Potential and Access to Capital

Highlighting the broader vision behind the initiative, Minister for Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, emphasized that business training must be coupled with direct access to capital to create lasting economic change:

“For NiYA, training is only one part of the journey. The real value is in helping young people move from learning to enterprise, from ideas to investable businesses, and from potential to sustainable economic participation. The partnership with Cascador strengthens that pathway by combining business preparation with access to capital, particularly for young founders who may not yet have the formal structures or financial history that traditional funding often requires.”

This pilot serves as a stepping stone toward NiYA’s overarching commitment to empower and upskill 7 million young Nigerians over the next two years. By creating structured pathways to capital, the initiative removes traditional hurdles for talented creators across the nation.

Collaborative Leadership for Ecosystem Transformation

The initiative pairs the community outreach and public infrastructure of the FMYD and NiYA with Cascador’s deep expertise in preparing business founders for institutional investment. While the government handles outreach, participant selection, and day-to-day program delivery, Cascador shapes the investment readiness framework, serves on the pitch judging panel, and provides direct grant funding.

Trish Thomas, CEO of Cascador, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating:

“NiYA and FMYD have already shown what real commitment to Nigeria’s youth looks like — the platforms, the reach, the ambition to train millions. What we’re building together now is the missing piece, a practical bridge from the ideation stage to real capital-readiness. When a Ministry so dedicated to its young people asked Cascador to help build that bridge, it was an easy decision.”

Reiterating the value of public-private partnerships, Oyin Solebo, COO of Cascador, noted that combining government-backed skill development with immediate non-dilutive funding unlocks opportunities that neither sector could achieve independently. As the 20 pilot graduates move forward, they will maintain active alumni status within the NiYA network, gaining priority access to future enterprise opportunities.