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Welcome to the beta site of the Nigerian Entrepreneurship Initiative which aims to tackle poverty and unemplyment in Africa's most popolous country by promoting and supporting entrepreneurship amongst its people. We are still developing our website so please check back for new updates to the site.
While high oil prices have spurned economic growth in Nigeria over the last five years, however country�s economy is still largely dependent on the revenues from the sale of oil. For the country and its populace to fully benefit form its recent economic sprout, there would be a need for the economic to diversify.
Despite its oil riches, Nigeria is ranked 80th in the Human Poverty Index amongst 108 developing countries, making it one of the poorest countries in the world. Over 70% of the population is classified as poor (<$2 a day) and 35% living in absolute poverty (<$1 a day).
High unemployment rate amongst its youth still a problem with 60% of graduates struggling to get immediate employment leaving the country with a huge pool of untapped talent.
Increasing the number of micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) can go a long way in reversing the country�s fortunes.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been identified as the cornerstone of many of the developed nations and the best creators of economic growth, wealth creation and jobs. Within the European Union (EU), there are 25 million SMEs who employ 75 million people, which accounts for roughly about two thirds of its workforce in the private sector. In some sectors, such as textiles, furniture and construction SMEs employ for than 80% of the workforce.
By promoting entrepreneurship in Nigeria, it is hoped that it would augment the government�s effort to reduce unemployment in the country. A reduction in employment would go a long way in reducing poverty in the country.
Another possible effect of pushing the support for SMEs could be the growth in the number of micro enterprises which while not casually linked with economic growth, have been shown to be crucial in the reduction of poverty.
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