Nine States to Benefit From $3m UNIDO Entrepreneurship Project

• Nine States to Benefit From $3m UNIDO Entrepreneurship Project

United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says a total of nine states in Nigeria will benefit from $3 million entrepreneurship project in Nigeria.

The project is aimed at preparing young people to create their own employment from secondary schools.

The nine beneficiary states are Anambra State, Bauchi State, Benue State, Cross River State, Delta State, Katsina State, Ogun State, Ondo State, and Oyo State.

In a statement, Noriko Takahashi, Industrial Development Officer, said the UNIDO project will support the development of entrepreneurship content in secondary schools and infuse it into the curricula of 34 trade subjects.

“The project, costing $3 million, part of which is funded by the Government of Japan, will be implemented in the course of the next five years and will focus on supporting the education process in a total of nine states,” said the statement.

Ismail Junaidu, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), said: “To achieve this goal we need to make sure that young people in Nigeria have the chance to become productive members of society. A new education curriculum focusing on developing entrepreneurship knowledge, skills and attitudes that will benefit industries and also serve as a reliable and efficient vehicle for the attainment of the vision 2020.”

UNIDO provides advisory services to improve the business and policy environment for the private sector, assisting with the creation of productive capacities. Its programmes support investment and technology opportunities to help enterprises, especially SMEs, improve productivity and innovation, and achieve systemic competitive advantages. Building on a robust global network aimed at fostering investment, technology and other partnership opportunities, UNIDO seeks to enable SMEs to capitalise on their unique dynamism and flexibility by strengthening synergies among enterprises and with support institutions.