FG Set to Begin Disbursement of N220bn MSME Fund

The federal government has commenced screening of Nigerian youths for entrepreneurship training with the launch at the weekend of the Youths Entrepreneurship Strategy (YES) in Oil and Gas Industry. Part of the N220 billion set aside for Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would be utilised to fund the Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy.

Addressing the youths at the launch organised by Anabel Leadership Academy in Abuja at the weekend, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga said the federal government is determined to empower the youths because their role in economic development cannot be underrated

Aganga explained that Nigerian youths form a very substantial segment of the population; hence they must be empowered in order to stem the tide of unemployment, poverty, hunger and squalor. He noted that the federal government had created a window of opportunities through legislation and the youths should take advantage of these opportunities.

“Apart from empowerment through entrepreneurship training and certification, you must take advantage of the power reform and industrialisation. These are windows of opportunities. The greatest asset you have now is your brain and that is where the future is”, he said.

According to him, the power of the youth in economic development is very important today so any country that does not tap the potential of the youths cannot compete globally. ‘It is important we re-invent ourselves and position our economy for industrialisation and entrepreneurship’, he said.

Anabel Leadership Academy’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Nicholas Okoye explained that as a response to the federal government’s efforts at creating a window of opportunities for the youths to become employers of labour, there must be network of young Nigerians that would take over. Okoye, the conveyer of the launch explained that the empowerment programme would be executed through the Nigerian content fund set aside to build capacity.

According to Okoye, Anabel’s role in the initiative is that of facilitator by exposing the prospective young entrepreneurs to an array of skills that would prepare them to realise their dreams. “Under the programme, young registered entrepreneurs would be equipped with training and funding to participate in the oil and gas sector to create jobs, remain sustainable and expand globally. This implies that Anabel has a very fundamental role to play in this process because training and certification must be accomplished before the issue of funding by the government or direct job with the organised private sector could follow” Okoye said.

Speaking at the forum, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, the parastatal in charge of the programme, Mr. Ernest Nwapa warned that the training was not a guarantee for job placement. He stated that the objective of the training was to empower the youths to be self-employed. He said potential beneficiaries of the training must belong to one of the associations in the Oil and Gas industry. (Thisdaylive)