FG inaugurates Advisory Board for African Enterprise Initiative

Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, yesterday, inaugurated the Nigerian Board of Advisors for the African Enterprise Initiative.

According to a statement, the Board inaugurated recently include Dr. Nicky Okoye, who is the founder and Executive Chairman of the African Enterprise Initiative.

Others are Chairman of MRS Group, Mr. Sayyu Dantata; Chairman of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Charles Momoh; Chairman/Chief Executive, Sahara Power Group, Kola Adesina; former Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; co-founder, Star Crest, Fifi Ejindu; Founder of Flying Doctors, Dr. Ola Brown; and Director, Investment FMITI, Olukemi Arodudu.

Chief Executive Officer of SMEDAN, Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, and Country Director for the African Development Bank are also members of the board.

The statement explained that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the African Enterprise Initiative was signed by Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment and Okoye.

Adebayo was also quoted to have said, “We are proud to partner the Nicky Okoye Foundation to implement the African Enterprise Initiative, which has major impact implications for Nigeria’s youth employment situation as well as for growth in the capacity of Nigerian businesses.

“We are grateful that Dr Nicky Okoye and the Foundation chose to start the implementation of the African Enterprise Initiative with Nigeria and we believe that Nigeria’s extensive population of entrepreneurs will benefit from this initiative.”

On his part, Okoye said, “We designed the African Enterprise Initiative as a strategic response to need for inclusion in the global market value chain for all Nigerian and African enterprises. In an effort to drive that inclusion we have identified the key resources and requirements our African businesses will need, including access to capital, skills, market penetration, and seamless platforms to do cross board transactions.

“We have developed these interventions and streamlined them in an easy to understand format, which is supported by technology, capital and expertise. Our strategic partnership with the Federal Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment is a monumental pillar of the African Enterprise Initiative and we are extremely fortunate that the federal government has identified value in what we are doing.”

The African Enterprise Initiative was designed to provide the capacity, drive, funding and platform required for Nigerian enterprises operating at all levels, especially, the micro, small and medium businesses, to penetrate global markets, expand their product and service offering base as well as attract investment capital from local and international sources.

The statement added, “A major intervention of the African Enterprise Initiative is a strategic intervention designed for Nigerians at the grassroots and for the nation’s community based entrepreneurs and micro enterprises. These micro community enterprises will have the direct access to African Enterprise Initiative’s community enterprise clinics, which will be sited in over 500 many communities across Nigeria.

“The African Enterprise Initiative will also create strategic platforms and interventions for the sustainable growth of Nigerian enterprises across the board working closely with the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment, local and foreign development partners, state governments and other Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.