Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has launched a $618 million programme for young Nigerians in the technology and creative sectors.
He urged governments across Africa and the private sector to render more support for the growth of innovation in the continent.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said the programme would support young Nigerians, ranging from ages 15 to 35 who are entrepreneurs and involved in early stages in creative, innovative and technology-enabled ventures.
“I think it is now imperative to begin a coordinated approach towards innovation on the continent, bringing together all stakeholders to coordinate efforts at scaling up investments and building programmes that provide the right enabling environment and produce talent pipelines that support the growth of innovation on the continent,” Osinbajo said in his keynote address at the event.
Under i-DICE, constraints, such as access to capital, and capacity limitation of start-ups would be effectively addressed. But the Vice President said more still needs to be done to scale up such programmes.
He said: “The government must provide more support for startups and small businesses, and investors must provide more funding. This is why the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises Programme is important.”
i-DICE is supported by funding from the AfDB -$170 million; the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) – N70 million and the Agence Française deDéveloppement – $116 million.
Lauding the efforts of the development partners, the Vice President noted that the programme’s design “supports innovation across very critical pillars, including policy, infrastructure, access to finance and talent. These pillars have been identified as very critical to the growth and sustenance of innovation on the continent”.
He explained that “the total fund is $618 million, out of which the AfDB provides $170 million, the Agence Francaise de Development $116 million, and the Islamic Development Bank will provide $70 million in co-financing”. Another $271 million is expected from the private sector and institutional investors, he said.
Also, President of Africa Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said it is time to create youth-based wealth that will support a more inclusive Nigerian economy.
Adesina spoke at the presidential inauguration of the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (i-DICE) programme yesterday in Abuja.
The AfDB president said the initiative was timely, strategic, and transformative and would build the ecosystems to support more competitive entrepreneurs powered by digital technologies.
“Yes, we gather to inaugurate the initiative, but what we are really inaugurating is more than it. We are inaugurating hope for the youth.
“We are inaugurating platforms that will enhance the ability and capacity of Nigeria’s youth to thrive. We are inaugurating the creation of millions of jobs.
“We are retooling Nigeria to compete more in an increasingly digital world. We are creating hope for a new Nigeria, driven by the power of the youth,” he said.
The AfDB president noted that what Nigeria does with its youthful population would determine its future. “It is time to create youth-based wealth for Nigeria. Youth-based wealth will rapidly expand the creation of jobs, expand the fiscal space with new sources of taxes, and support a more inclusive Nigerian economy, now and well into the future.
“That is why, shortly after I was elected AfDB president, we inaugurated the Jobs for Youth in Africa strategy. “We expect that the programme will create 25 million new jobs by 2026, focusing on practical and high-impact solutions,” he said.
Adesina said the future is here, and every aspect of life is digitally transformed.