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| Fourth left: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelama; Minister of StateIndustry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar; Minister of communications, Adebayo Shittu and some awardees, at the distribution of grants to Growth and Employment Project awardees during the Aso Villa Demo Day in Abuja on Tuesday (4/4/17). 02033/4/4/2017/Jones Bamidele/NAN |
The Federal Ministry of
Industry, Trade and Investment has approved the sum of ₦756.3 million for
disbursement to 81 Nigerian innovators as part of Federal Government’s economic
empowerment initiatives.
News
Agency of Nigeria report continues:
Okechukwu
Enelamah, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, said this in Abuja on
Tuesday during the grant award ceremony.
Mr.
Enelamah said the grant was made possible through the Growth and Employment
Project (GEM) financed by the World Bank IDA Credit.
The
GEM project is an initiative of the Federal Government, World Bank and DFID to
increase firms and businesses growth and employment creation in Nigeria.
The
project seeks to achieve economic diversification, increased overall
competitiveness, increased investment and sustainably increase jobs for
Nigerians.
Mr.
Enelamah said the innovators were selected following a technological innovation
competition organized by the Presidency, called Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD).
According
to him, the project targets young Nigerian entrepreneurs with innovative
business models who will contribute to the growth of the economy.
“Having
awarded grants to the best three innovators that emerged winners from the 2016
AVDD national competition, the presidency engaged GEM to scale up the programme
for wider impact,’’ he said.
Mr.
Enelamah said 289 candidates were shortlisted and after the evaluation process,
81 of them met all requirements and were selected as beneficiaries.
He
said the beneficiaries were drawn from the six geo-political zones, adding that
the grants would be disbursed in two separate tranches after the grant award
ceremony.
“GEM
is about igniting businesses and building their capacity to grow and employ
Nigerians. Above all, it helps solve the problem of funding faced by many of
our MSMEs,’’ Mr. Enelamah said.
He
said the project was a US$160 million World Bank IDA credit with the Project
Implementation Unit at the ministry.
Mr.
Enelamah said the project’s objective was to increase growth and employment in
participating firms in Nigeria through provision of technical assistance and
grants to qualified existing firms and businesses across Nigeria.
He
said the project would operate in five high growth sectors of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), Hospitality, Entertainment, Light
Manufacturing, and Construction.
The
minister said the project would verify the achievement of set milestones by
beneficiaries, while the progress would be monitored as condition for the
second disbursement.
Rachid
Benmessaoud, the Word Bank Country Director in Nigeria, said the project would
enable the country to address its unemployment issues.
Mr.
Benmessaoud, represented by Andrew Gartside, Senior Private Sector Development
Adviser in World Bank, said that the country needed to create jobs through the
small and medium enterprises as way of ensuring inclusive economic growth.
“If
the economy of Nigeria is to grow and the desired diversification of the FG
must succeed, the SMEs will have to grow and succeed to harness the economy,’’
he said. Some of the beneficiaries said the project would enable them to
empower more youths.
Nkem
Okocha, who operates at the grassroots by empowering the women on skills, said
the grant would enable her to touch the lives of the poor at the communities
where she operated.
Okocha
advised other youths to enroll into the project to better their lives rather
than depending on government paid jobs.
Damilola
Olokesusi, another beneficiary, said she would use the grant to buy more buses
for her business.
Olokesusi said the project was a dream come true and promised to utilize the grant judiciously.
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