The Federal Government is aiming to create a total of 570,000 jobs through the implementation of the focussed labs under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, said this in Abuja during the ERGP Mid-Lab syndication meeting.

A statement from the minister’s Media Adviser, Akpandem James, quoted Udoma as saying that the government was optimistic that given the number of projects that were likely to be ready for approval by the end of the lab process, the aim of resolving inter-agency bottlenecks, which is one of the cardinal objectives of the labs, would have been achieved.

He said the purpose of setting up the labs was to identify and unlock investments from the private sector by resolving complex inter-agency problems that acted as barriers to private sector investments.

The minister stated, “By bringing you, the investors and heads of critical agencies of government, into a confined environment, the government is offering you a platform to finalise your business decisions in the fastest possible manner.

“Data from the three labs show that in the past three weeks, we are on course to meeting our target of $25bn investment commitment.

“So far, we have identified 59 projects that are four- and five-star. There are several other projects rated one- to three-star. We will continue to work with these categories of investors to improve the ratings of their projects to five-star projects.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who also spoke at the event, said he was particularly impressed by the level of commitment, enthusiasm and interest shown by the participants to fast-track the growth and development of the country.

He noted that even though regulatory processes were necessary in order to protect institutions and streamline activities, the government appreciated the fact that it was necessary to limit bureaucratic tendencies so that they would not get in the way of progress.

This, he added, was why the government decided to embark on the labs to address challenges that could stand in the way of investments.

Osinbajo said he was encouraged by the fact that Nigeria had what it takes to realise set goals.

“We have made remarkable progress and working together, we can achieve so much,” he added.

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