No fewer than 470 young entrepreneurs have qualified for physical screening for the N50 million Ibom Ignite business support grant after an initial review of 531 applications.
The Executive Secretary of Ibom Ignite, Dr. Ebong Eno, disclosed this during the screening exercise ahead of the 2026 Ibom Ignite Conference scheduled for October 27 and 28.
Eno said the initial screening eliminated applicants who failed to provide the required documents, leaving 470 candidates eligible for the next stage of the selection process.
He explained that the physical screening was aimed at verifying applicants’ documents and confirming the authenticity of the information provided during registration.
“We had about 531 persons who applied, and from the automated screening, some persons did not complete their required documentation, so the system dropped them. We have about 470 who have been able to scale through, having submitted the required documents,” he said.
According to him, the grant programme has two categories: existing businesses and start-ups, with different assessment criteria for each group.
Eno said applicants with businesses that had operated for at least two years would be assessed using records such as daily sales books and business accounts, while start-ups would be evaluated based on criteria suited to their stage of development.
He added that the N50 million grant would be shared among successful applicants through first-place, second-place and consolation prizes, rather than awarded to one person.
The overall winner in the existing-business category would receive N5 million, he said, without detailing the full distribution of the grant across the categories.
Eno disclosed that 80 applicants were expected to emerge from the screening process before a further selection to determine the eventual winners and consolation-prize recipients.
The exercise included document verification and oral interviews as part of the assessment process.
Some applicants commended the organisers for the screening procedure. Utibe Akwa of UtyTrends Global Ventures said the process had given participants confidence in the integrity of the selection.
Another applicant, Idara Leo, who operates a real estate business, said she was surprised to receive an email inviting her to the next stage after applying for the grant.
She also described the process as transparent.
The grant initiative is part of activities for the 2026 Ibom Ignite Conference, themed “Reinvent: Rethink, Reimagine, Redesign, Become,” which seeks to identify and support innovative business ideas among young people.
