Funding Youth Entrepreneurship in SMEs: A Panacea for Youth Unemployment in Niger-Delta, Nigeria

The objective of this study was to identify profitable and viable SMEs which could form a basis for an economic empowerment programme for the unemployed youths in the Niger Delta Region. The focus of the study is on SMEs with  a capital base of not less than one million Naira and not more than 10 million Naira and which are registered with the co-ordinating agency of government. A survey of SMEs was conducted in four major urban centres of Aba in Abia  state, Uyo in Akwa Ibom state, Benin in Edo state and Port Harcourt in Rivers state and their environs. The cities were purposively selected because they are known centres of economic activities around which industrial  establishments and SMEs cluster in the region.