[Nigeria] Japan, UNIDO invest in youth entrepreneurship programmes
The Government of Japan has announced that it will fund a project to promote youth entrepreneurship in north-eastern Nigeria.
This is one of eight new projects implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic, with Japanese funding totaling $5.2 million.
The project will build on a previous project funded by the Government of Japan to further improve senior secondary school education. By providing students with technical trade knowledge and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, young people will learn how to start and manage their own micro and small-scale businesses, thus promoting youth-led entrepreneurial development.
Upon successful implementation of the project in three north-eastern states – Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe – the 'revised trade and entrepreneurship programme' will be included in the curriculum of all senior secondary schools across Nigeria.
Sadanobu Kusaoke, Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, reassured that the Government of Japan will continue to support Nigerian people’s efforts aimed at restoring livelihoods for the young generations in the North-East region.
Speaking at the kick-off event held on 28 March at UNIDO headquarters in Vienna, during which the eight projects and the funding from the Government of Japan were announced, UNIDO Director General, LI Yong, highlighted that the projects aim to strengthen the humanitarian-development nexus and promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development by taking a human security approach.
Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, stated that the projects will “help individuals to live under healthy conditions, consolidate their livelihoods and, with all of this, gain optimism for their future.”