Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has reiterated the federal government’s commitment to providing practical support to smaller companies especially those owned by youths, stressing that young entrepreneurs and small business owners are the future of Nigeria.
Osinbajo gave the assurance Tuesday in Abuja during the Inaugural Partnership Economy Summit held on the theme: “Translating Global Goals into Local Businesses in Nigeria” organised in Abuja by the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs in collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and Myk Psymmons Solutions Limited, ministry of trade and investments, RMRDC, NOA, NULGE and ALGON.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry Ambassador Anthonia Ekpa, Osinbajo noted that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, expressing satisfaction that the Partnership Economy Nigeria (PEN) platform will support their sustainable growth.
Osinbajo stressed the importance of building a seamless partnership between citizens and all arms of government, disclosing that government has developed many remarkable policies which should positively influence the lives of people at the grassroots.
“This administration has taken full responsibility of creating a functional economy built from the bottom-up. Our economic reforms are built on a foundation of inclusiveness, and we are striving to ensure that the impact of our policies is felt in every ward, village and hamlet in our great nation,” he Said the same time and.
“It is not easy to start out as an entrepreneur, accessing finance and support can be a great challenge. The National Council on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has for the past few years encouraged the use of the Leasing System as a way for entrepreneurs to acquire production facilities. Partnership Economy Nigeria seeks to ensure that entrepreneurs in each ward have access to these types of facilities by designating Council Wards as Presidential Economic Development Districts.
“These Presidential Economically Development Districts will implement a Lease Operate Pay and Own Scheme (LOPOS) based on the same guidelines as the leasing system, in addition to funding the industrial parks and clusters. This is indeed a watershed for promoting and funding grassroots MSMEs to acquire technology for industrial production,” he assured.
In his welcome address, the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs Senator George Akume, explained that a Framework of Partnership Economy Nigeria, guided by the principles of Public Social Private Partnership (PSPP) is being designed, developed and promoted as a multi-layered collaborative socio-economic platform for the government, the business sector and the civil society.
Akume assured that the platform shall support, coordinate and facilitate community based Economic and Private Entrepreneurs to Promote, Start, Grow and Expand small businesses in the real sectors of the economy from the bottom up, adding that this will create a pool of over four million jobs’ opportunities in the economy, on an annual basis.
