ABUJA: The Nigerian Government through the Nigerian Content and Development Monitoring Board has unveiled an entrepreneurship, empowerment and employment initiative under the Youth Empowerment Strategy of Nigeria for the oil and gas sector.
The initiative, which is being spearheaded by an advisory team from the Annabel Group, is said to be a path to entrepreneurship for youths, women and Small and Medium-scale Enterprises.
Under the initiative, young registered entrepreneurs will be equipped with training and funding to participate in the oil and gas sector, create jobs and expand beyond Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said at the ceremony on Thursday in Abuja that the initiative was an important step in attracting local participation in the oil and gas sector.
He said that his ministry, through the initiative, would assist young Nigerians to become entrepreneurs in the oil and gas sector.
The minister said with the global environment becoming more dynamic, the greatest asset that Nigeria possessed was the vibrancy and resourcefulness of its youths.
With the reforms implemented by the Federal Government in the last four years, Aganga explained that the era when Nigeria exported raw materials and imported finished goods would soon be over.
“The greatest asset you have now is your brain and that is where the future is. The world is more unpredictable and competitive today than it was few years back. The power of the youth in economic development is very important today; so, any country that does not tap the potential of the youth can’t compete globally.
According to Aganga, MSMEs account for over 70 percent of jobs created in Nigeria and that the development of the sector is one of the major focuses of the government.
