President Goodluck Jonathan said the Nigeria new National Industrial Revolution Plan, NIRP and the National Enterprise Development Programme, NEDEP will attract investors to the various sector of the economy and improve production in the country.
President Jonathan at the launching of NIRP and NEDEP in Abuja, said the federal government is committed to stimulating local production in various sectors in the overall interest of Nigerians, especially in the automobile sector.
“Nigeria’s new industrial revolution plan will further promote investments in every sector of the Nigerian economy, and strengthen areas in which the country has comparative advantage,” the President said, adding that the aim is “to create a win-win situation for both investors and the Nigerian people”.
The two programmes are the federal government’s flagship initiatives aimed at fast tracking Nigeria’s industrialisation process, diversifying the economy as well as facilitating the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, in the country.
NIRP and NEDEP, he said, are aimed at consolidating the gains of Nigeria’s strong economic growth as one of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, in the last decade which has placed the country as a top investment destination in the African continent.
Speaking, The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga stressed that skills development was one of the major pillars of his ministry’s Industrial Revolution Plan stressing that the Ministry of Trade and Investment would partner the Organised Private Sector and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to significantly increase the pool of skills required to increase the productive capacity of local industries to enable them create jobs , generate wealth and transform Nigeria’s economy
Aganga said, “The Industrial Revolution which we have embarked upon is based on three major pillars which are industry; innovation and skills development. We want to focus on industries where we have comparative and competitive advantage, and with high potentials for job creation and wealth generation. In the area of innovation, we are focusing on research and development so that we can enhance the productivity and growth of our industries to enable them competes globally.
“But in the area of skills development, our objective is to significantly increase the pool of local skills required to deliver on our growth aspirations and ensure availability of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for our skilled youths. My charge to the ITF and SMEDAN I and stakeholders today is that given the current level unemployment in our country, our target is that we should be able to train at least one million youths annually in various occupations through the NISDP initiative and ensure that they are gainfully absorbed by industries so that we can reduce poverty and unemployment in our country”.
As part of its skills development strategy, Aganga said that the Ministry had already embarked on policy reform programmes aimed at removing bottlenecks along the value chain in order to link skills development and innovation to industry needs.
Also contributing, SMEDAN’s Director-General, Alhaji Bature Umar told Nigerian that the launching was part of a grand strategy of implementing the guidelines for intending Nigerians in all local government areas to form themselves into cooperative groups.
“The launch of the NEDEP programme under SMEDAN will be the spring board for the creation of five million jobs in the country between now and the end of 2015 and serves as a catalyst to considerable reduction of unemployment, pervasive poverty as well as guarantee wealth creation and growth of the Nigerian rural economy”.
“That way they will be properly guided on the formulation of bankable business plans on their enterprise ideas which we receive and forward to the Bank of Industry for financing.”
He added that no fewer than 20,000 such cooperative bodies had been formed over the last three months, and intending members with relevant enterprise ideas are being guided on business plan formulation.
“The initiative is aimed at consolidating the gains of Nigeria’s strong economic growth as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, in the last decade which has placed the country as a top investment destination in the African continent,” Masari said.
Today’s launching, which is in line with the transformation agenda of President Jonathan, will have in attendance members of the international community, key members of organised private sector, representatives from all tiers of government and members of the business community.
