News Investigators/ Vice-President Kashim Shettima says the Federal Government is committed and has the capacity to fund its priority projects, describing the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) as one of such priorities.
Mr Shettima said this on Thursday at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) in Abuja, where he was represented by his Special Adviser on General Duties,Sen. Aliyu Modibbo.
Mr Shettima said the ACE aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda and government’s efforts to address unemployment and create productive opportunities for young Nigerians.
He said the expansion of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and establishment of ACE reflected the administration’s commitment to strengthening entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
According to him, the government’s ambition for young people extends across FinTech, AgriTech and HealthTech, with the aim of developing businesses capable of supporting traders, farmers and other economic actors.
“Our ambition is to make the youth employers of thousands, creators of lasting value and sources of national pride.
“We want to create the conditions in which young Nigerians can develop enterprises that contribute meaningfully to the economy, while providing opportunities for others to earn productive livelihoods.
“The Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship is, therefore, consistent with the government’s broader efforts to tackle unemployment and create a more productive and inclusive economy,” he said.
Mr Shettima commended SMEDAN, the Republic of Korea, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners for bringing the ACE project to the groundbreaking stage.
He said Nigeria had the capacity to fund its priorities, describing the ACE as a major priority in the Federal Government’s efforts to strengthen entrepreneurship.
He said the centre would provide young entrepreneurs with opportunities to develop their ideas into viable enterprises while connecting them with relevant support, infrastructure and investment.
Mr Shettima said the government expected the project to contribute to a stronger entrepreneurship ecosystem capable of supporting innovation, enterprise development and job creation across the country.
While inaugurating the construction of the centre, he urged entrepreneurs who had already undergone training to justify the investment by building enterprises worthy of trust and honouring their obligations.
The vice-president advised beneficiaries to remain patient and committed to building sustainable enterprises, saying the success of ACE would ultimately depend on the businesses and opportunities generated through it.
Elsie Attafuah, UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, said ACE would help translate Nigeria’s demographic potential into sustainable businesses and decent jobs.
Ms Attafuah said partnerships such as the ACE project were most valuable when they responded to national priorities while leaving stronger institutions and greater opportunities for citizens.
She said that UNDP supported the solarisation of SMEDAN’s Common Facility Centre in Idu in 2024 through a 120KVA solar-powered mini-grid.
She said the intervention demonstrated UNDP’s commitment to working with Nigerian institutions to create environments where people could transform their capabilities and ideas into productive opportunities.
Ms Attafuah said Nigeria had more than 75 million people aged between 15 and 35, describing the youthful population as a significant potential driver of economic transformation.
She, however, said young people and MSMEs continued to face barriers including limited access to finance, digital infrastructure, business support and appropriate innovation spaces.
According to her, ACE is designed to address some of these constraints by providing dedicated physical and institutional platforms for entrepreneurship development and innovation.
She said the centre was expected to support 500 prospective young Nigerian entrepreneurs and 400 start-ups in FinTech, EdTech, HealthTech and AgriTech, alongside MSMEs from Abuja and surrounding cities.
Ms Attafuah said the centre would provide time-share offices, hot-desking facilities, meeting rooms, training and incubation spaces to support entrepreneurs at different stages of development.
“ACE will also connect entrepreneurs with government and private-sector institutions working in business registration, digital innovation, skills development, investment, export promotion, finance and enterprise support.
“The centre’s design placed inclusion and sustainability at its core, with accessibility for persons with disabilities and older persons, as well as gender-responsive features.
“The facility will incorporate green design principles, including renewable energy, low embodied-carbon technologies and locally sourced biorenewable materials,” she said.
Ms Attafuah said UNDP, SMEDAN and KOICA intended to build an active entrepreneurship ecosystem around ACE by engaging incubators, universities, financial institutions, private-sector actors and entrepreneur networks.
She said the partners would develop an ACE Incubation Pipeline through which affiliated incubators and universities could run programmes during construction and contribute to the centre’s first intake.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ACE project is funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) with a contribution of 12 million dollars, while SMEDAN serves as government partner and UNDP as infrastructure delivery partner.
The centre is being developed at SMEDAN’s Idu Industrial Development Centre in Abuja, following completion of feasibility work, site selection, partnership formalisation and site preparation.
The project is expected to strengthen entrepreneurship, innovation, skills development, investment and inclusive economic opportunities for Nigerian youths and MSMEs.
NAN
