Denis Opudo
The office of Nigerian Deputy President plays a vital role in eradicating unemployment in the country. It achieves that by working with various government agencies and ministries. The good working relationship ensured the development of private sectors within the country. The initiative led to the launch of NENHub (Yola, Adamawa). The platform has a role in making Nigeria’s economy to be driven by knowledge and become a smart economy. Furthermore, the economy must be in a position to speed up industrialization. This can be achieved via training and nurturing the talents of young Nigerian’s.
There should also be technology-driven sectors in the north-east region. Youth empowerment should be the first agenda in ensuring the country’s regional balance. Moreover, NENHUB organized a project called StartUp Mambila that aims at empowering the local youth. It got support from National Social Investment Program (NSIP) which is run by the Nigerian Federal government.
The initiative aims at increasing regional activities through innovative clusters. It also seeks to encourage innovation in various sectors in the economy. Furthermore, the initiative targets the talents of about 25,000 Nigerian youths. Once the abilities have been identified, the youths will benefit from the training to develop their skills on a professional level. The platform also aims at equipping the population with digital enterprise skills. This will ensure that they meet both the local and international job qualification standards.
For all that to be achieved, there is a call for all local startups to register with the StartUp Mambila. The shortlisted startups will have an opportunity to a six-month incubation program. Moreover, they will get a $5,000 funding. This will be channeled at starting their businesses after the incubation period. For a startup to qualify, its idea should be that which can be easily developed technologically. The design should be able to solve socio-economic problems of the north-east population. Additionally, it should have been under the ownership for up to three years in it is early development stage.
The objective of the initiative is as follows.
It aims to develop Nigeria as IT-driven professional services, manufacturing. It also seeks to make Nigeria agro-bound processing deploying hub.
It focuses on increasing the regional activity of innovative clusters and encouraging innovation across various sectors of the economy
To speed up industrialization in Nigeria by attracting Venture Capital, manufacturing and service organizations
It aims at creating job opportunities for the youths through a knowledge-driven economy by embracing innovative solutions.
The registration started on 1st February 2018 and will end on 20th February 2018. One can register a startup through their website, www.nenhub.com.ng. The shortlisted startups will attend a pre-incubation demo which has been scheduled for 22nd February 2018 at Yola.
