Buharimeter: Promise In the Works
Promise: Provide USD500m innovation fund to tech and creative sector to create 500,000 jobs
Nigeria partners with AfDB to provide $500 million fund for tech, creative sectors.
One of the promises in President Buhari's Next Level Agenda is to provide $500 million fund for the technology and creative sectors in Nigeria. The creative and technology sector have been identified as a viable sector in addressing Africa’s unemployment problem as the youth population continue to increase.
In a move to fulfill this promise, the Buhari administration has commenced a process that will provide the sectors with about N240 billion in financing and investment set to take off by the end of the year.
It's no news that Nigeria's creative sector is a vibrant sector that is driven by young people and has a growing global influence. This sector has the potential to become the hub for exporting Nigeria's culture.
The government says the $500 million equivalent financing, which is to be sourced from the AfDB, will be used for the establishment of a $500 million fund in support of what has been named the Nigeria Innovation Programme (NIP). According to a Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity in the Presidency, Laolu Akande, he noted that it is public knowledge that the vice president has spoken publicly about the $500m facility.
He added that details of how the facility will work were discussed on Thursday, March 29, 2021 at a meeting presided over by Mr Osinbajo which had in attendance cabinet ministers, representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), among others.
“Mr Akande while addressing the pressmen explained that the plan to get the funding is an outcome of the Technology and Creativity Working Group set up few years ago with members drawn from the private and public sectors chaired by the vice president. The working group was carved out of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council earlier set up by President Muhammadu Buhari also chaired by the vice president.”
In March 2021, a report of the first draft project proposal was presented by the AfDB to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The AfDB is expected to give its approval in October.
With Nigeria’s bulging youth population and rising unemployment, the technology and creative sectors is seen as a vibrant industry to address unemployment gap in the country.
AdvoKC anticipates the approval of this programme next month and its subsequent implementation. Thus, we’ll continue to follow the progress.
Therefore we rate this promise in the works.
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