Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Nigerian government has begun an assessment of the country’s investment policy with a view to promoting investments especially in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that measure up to Nigeria’s economic development objectives within the purview of the Responsible, Inclusive, Balanced and Sustainable Policy framework.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Adeniyi Adebayo said in Abuja on Monday that the government would register 250,000 MSMEs free of charge as part of the strategies aiming to curb unemployment and empower Nigerian units.
He observed that youths were a significant part of the economy, considering that Nigeria had a large youth population comprising creative, ingenious, vibrant and diligent individuals with the capacity to become global leaders.
“Data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics show that youths make up 64 per cent of the total unemployed Nigerians. Partly as a result of this, many Nigerian youths, being ever-resilient, have directed their creative energy, ideas and innovations into establishing MSMEs,” said Adebayo, who spoke at the 2020 Ugwumba Enterprise Challenge for young leaders’ business start-ups.
“These now constitute about 96 per cent of the total number of enterprises, 50 per cent of National Gross Domestic Product and 70 per cent of the nation’s workforce.
“Right now, under the Economic Sustainability Plan, the government is funding registration for 250,000 MSMEs, which would be registered at zero cost. We are also concessioning two Brownfield Special Economic Zones while commencing work on developing four additional greenfield sites across the country,” he added.
The chairman of the Ugwumba Centre for Leadership Development in Africa, the organiser of the event, Othman Usman, enjoined Nigerian youths to embrace profitable initiatives in their interest as well as that of the country particularly by leveraging opportunities offered by MSMEs.
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