KPMG backs $720,000 grant for 240 Nigerian entrepreneurs

KPMG is backing a $720,000 grant for 240 Nigerian entrepreneurs, with each beneficiary set to receive $3,000 and no repayment attached. For a firm that sells trust, control and professional judgment, the move places KPMG inside the country’s small-business pipeline, where today’s grant recipients can become tomorrow’s audit clients, advisory mandates or even hires.

The Jerry Eze Foundation said the program is designed to empower young entrepreneurs and small businesses, with a preference for agriculture, manufacturing and technology. Eligibility is limited to Nigerian citizens or legal residents in Nigeria who are 18 or older and operate a registered business name or a CAC-registered SME. The foundation, which describes itself as the charitable arm of Pastor Jerry Eze’s ministry, said the grant is part of its annual outreach and is tied to his broader work through Streams of Joy International and the NSPPD platform.

KPMG is expected to oversee screening, evaluation, beneficiary selection and fund disbursement, a role that matters in a market where access to startup capital remains one of the biggest barriers for young founders. That oversight gives the firm a visible hand in deciding which businesses move from informal hustle to formal scale, especially in sectors tied to job creation, innovation and Nigeria’s economic diversification.

The new award also shows how quickly the program has expanded. In January 2026, Pastor Jerry Eze announced a $300,000 grant for 100 young Nigerians, with each beneficiary also due to receive $3,000. By February, reporting said the initiative had grown into a $525,000 grant for 100 entrepreneurs, again with KPMG overseeing the process. The jump to 240 beneficiaries and $720,000 suggests the foundation has turned the same empowerment model into a larger, more visible platform.

That platform also fits KPMG’s broader posture in Nigeria. KPMG Nigeria says it has served the country’s business community for more than four decades, and its 2020 corporate social responsibility report said the firm’s purpose is to inspire confidence and empower change in Nigeria. The firm also runs an ongoing university scholarship program, reinforcing a long-running pattern of investment in education and community development.

The brand-protection side of the house has been active too. A July 10, 2025 Court of Appeal ruling in Lagos nullified the Corporate Affairs Commission registration of another entity using the name KPMG Professional Services. Taken together, the grant work and the legal defense show a firm trying to protect its name while placing it close to Nigeria’s next generation of business owners.