The Federal Government on Monday in Abuja commenced the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP).
The programme is expected to create 3.5 million jobs across the country through the development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector.
The programme was inaugurated by the Trade and Investment Minister, Mr. Olusegun Aganga. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja by Mrs Yemi Kolapo, a Senior Special Assistant to Aganga.
It explained that NEDEP was developed with the objective of harnessing the opportunities in the MSME sector to drive inclusive economic growth through skills training/development, job creation and wealth generation.
It quoted Aganga as stating that the Federal Government would set up an SME Council, comprising the Federal, State and Local Governments to streamline and harmonise all SME development activities across the country for maximum impact.
“If we are going to develop our economy and turn our quantity advantage into productive advantage, one of the most important sectors that we have to focus on is the MSME sector. Despite the little support the MSME sector has received over the years, the sector currently contributes to about 75 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product and employs more than 45 per cent of our people.
“Even developed economies rely heavily on MSMEs for job creation, wealth generation and inclusive economic growth.’’
Aganga explained that the National Enterprise Development Programme was an initiative spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment and its three agencies.
The agencies include the Bank of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the Industrial Training Fund.
“This is the first time ever that these three agencies under my ministry are coming together to develop and implement a programme that will revolutionise the growth of the MSME sector in Nigeria.
Aganga said: “The development of NEDEP was guided by similar enterprise development models in Asia, Africa and the One Local Government One Product (OLOP) pilot projects in Kano and Niger states.
“Our objective is that within the next two years of implementing NEDEP, the programme will generate 3.5 million jobs and an estimated five million direct and indirect jobs.’’
The minister said the Ministry has put in place some measures to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.
He said the Ministry was partnering with 17 state governments to provide specialised training and access to cheap funds to enable more MSMEs to increase their capacity to create jobs and generate wealth.
Aganga said the Ministry had set up a monitoring and evaluation team which would work with the National Bureau of Statistics to verify and validate all data relating to the number of jobs that would be created.
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