The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has stated that the apex bank is developing a partnership with Nigerian universities to improve entrepreneurial development.
Last week, Emefiele had called for knowledge sharing between industry players in key sectors of the economy and Nigerian tertiary institutions in order to train relevant manpower.
He stated this during his keynote address at the 35th conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian universities, which took place at the Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil, on Monday.
Emefiele noted that such a partnership arrangement would establish a culture of entrepreneurial development among the youths ahead of graduation by providing them with start-up funds for their enterprises upon graduation.
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The CBN chief further stated that the partnership would also address the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.
“The proposed partnership will also provide a platform for building digital skills that are relevant to Nigeria’s broader developmental goals,” he said.
Emefiele who was represented by the CBN Deputy Director, Development Finance Department, Adebowale Idowu, advised Nigerian universities to place more attention on entrepreneurship development in order to tackle the rising youth unemployment in the country.
He stated that there was an urgent need for tertiary institutions to evolve in the academic orientation of graduating students from job seeking to job creation through entrepreneurship development.
“As you may be aware, an estimated 600,000 graduate from our tertiary institutions and enter the labour market annually, after participating in the NYSC programme, seeking the already thinned out white-collar jobs,” he said.
“A situation that has contributed significantly to the rising youth unemployment across the country.
“To address this trend, there has to be a paradigm shift in our academic orientation of our graduating students from job seeking to job creation through entrepreneurship development.
“Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) portend great opportunities for addressing these gaps and accelerating economic growth, leveraging our vibrant youth population.”
Emefiele added that the CBN is developing a tertiary institutions entrepreneurship scheme (TIES) to re-orientate, train and finance entrepreneurship ideas among our graduates.
“The scheme is designed to support the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and culture through the introduction of a platform that provides seamless access to affordable finance to graduates through innovative channels for participation,” he said.
“The proposed scheme will be targeted at graduates of tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges.”
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