Nigeria's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has flagged off the University Entrepreneurship Development Programme (UNEDEP) to promote self-employment among the youth, right from institutions of higher learning.

UNEDEP, which will be implemented by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is also aimed at enhancing and re-orientating the values of undergraduates; providing a mentoring platform for students and reducing poverty and youth unemployment, among others.

Speaking during the unveiling of the programme in Abuja, on Tuesday, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said that the programme would give students the opportunity for practical hands on experience to enable them to successfully manage their own businesses.

He said, "UNEDEP’s mission is to 'catch them young'. The programme focuses on entrepreneurship development of undergraduates and aims to create future entrepreneurs; encourage self-employment; embed business ethics amongst the youth and consequently reduce the incidence of poverty. We will achieve this by using the existing Network for African Student Entrepreneurs club structure and deriving a standard schedule of activities for all members across all universities.

“Part of our strategy is to assess existing scalable student businesses to determine ways to enhance these and then creating a platform for student mentoring by successful entrepreneurs.

Our goal is for students to receive the necessary capacity building as part of the activities of the entrepreneurship clubs. Proposed activities include zonal and national business plan competitions whereby zonal winners will embark on the task of operating their businesses for a given period."

“We have seen this model achieve success in other countries and even in Nigeria through the Student for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). UNEDEP will give the opportunity for practical hands on experience whilst receiving the necessary Business Development Service training and assistance from SMEDAN and other BDS providers,” he added.

In order to address the problem of lack of access to capital, the minister said that UNEDEP would increase access to finance for young entrepreneurs by exposing them to investors that would fund their businesses.

He said, “As a Ministry, we are aware of the pressing lack of access to finance for entrepreneurs, which is particularly high amongst youth entrepreneurs. The National Survey on MSMEs conducted by SMEDAN, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, revealed that 84 per cent of enterprises secured their start-up funds through personal savings whilst only four per cent of enterprises secured start-up funds from financial institutions.

“As such, UNEDEP aims to increase access to finance for young entrepreneurs by exposing its participants to panels of investors.”

Mr. Aganga stressed that investment in youth empowerment through the promotion of entrepreneurship was one of the surest ways the country could address the twin problems of unemployment and poverty, adding that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment would collaborate with other stakeholders to achieve this objective.

He said, “Investing in youth empowerment by making our youths become entrepreneurs and employers of labour, is one of the most invaluable investments we can make in this country. Of the 17.2 million MSMEs in the country, the majority of these businesses are owned by individuals in the 36-50 year-old age bracket. Such statistics confirm the notion that there is an obvious need to galvanize the youths and increase their participation in enterprise activity.

“Our goal as a ministry, therefore, is to promote entrepreneurial activity, first at the University level, and later in polytechnics, among youth corpers and other school leavers.”

Speaking during the event, the Minister of Education, Mr. Ruqayyatu Rufai, said there was a need for the country to promote the culture of entrepreneurship among students in order to reduce unemployment and achieve sustainable economic growth and development.

“All over the world, entrepreneurship has been identified as the major driver of economic growth and development. The success of many economies can be traced to entrepreneurs who started small and then grew to become multinationals,” she said

Source: Federal Ministry of Information
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=548819761837603&l=2aac813e63&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Fsui5F8rlIk&_rdr