SMEDAN, KOICA begin construction of $12m entrepreneurship centre

The Federal Government has expressed commitment to link skills development, employment, entrepreneurship and innovation and its economic reforms to jobs and business opportunities for Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Republic of Korea, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have commenced the construction of the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE), a new entrepreneurship and innovation facility designed to strengthen opportunities for young entrepreneurs, women, start-ups, and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Abuja and across the Northern region.

The ACE is funded by KOICA with a contribution of $12 million and delivered through a partnership in which SMEDAN serves as the government partner and UNDP as the infrastructure delivery partner, and will provide purpose-built infrastructure for entrepreneurship development, digital training, incubation, co-working, enterprise support, and innovation.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Centre yesterday in Abuja, Vice-President Kashim Shettima noted that Nigeria’s large youth population could become an economic advantage only if young people have access to the skills, infrastructure, finance, markets and opportunities required to participate productively in the economy.

He said: “The objective cannot simply be to train more people. We must create pathways through which skills lead to jobs, jobs lead to enterprise, and enterprise drives economic growth.”

Shettima identified the Skills and Industry Alignment Roundtables, the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP), Expanded MSME Clinics and the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) initiative as programmes addressing different aspects of the government’s employment and enterprise-development agenda.

Shettima, who was represented by the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Aliyu Modibbo, said the facility, being developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the Government of the Republic of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), had the potential to become an important platform for entrepreneurship development.

He noted that the centre would form part of a broader ecosystem designed to help young Nigerians move from skills acquisition into employment, enterprise creation and business growth.

Shettima stated that ACE should not operate as an isolated entrepreneurship facility but should connect entrepreneurs with universities, financial institutions, technology companies, incubators, development partners and the private sector.

He added that the centre could serve entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the wider Northern region.

In his remarks, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SMEDAN, Mr Charles Odii, noted that the agency has made skills development, access to finance and markets, and productive infrastructure central to fulfilling its mandate to build the enterprises that will carry this economy forward.

He observed that the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship gives that commitment a physical home, adding that this partnership with KOICA and UNDP strengthens SMEDAN’s capacity to deliver at scale, as it speaks directly to the Federal Government’s priority of job creation, industrialisation and an economy powered by young people.