Federal Government Promises To Create Four Million Jobs

The Federal Government has promised to help small businesses develop in the country, by increasing funds, and access to it for small and medium scale business owners. This is projected to create 4 million jobs in two years, and significantly grow the economy. It is also expected to encourage more people go into business and help existing ones grow. Speaking on the proposal, the Minister for Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga,  said that “Recent data provided by the National MSMEs collaborative survey undertaken by SMEDAN – Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency – and the National Bureau of Statistics put the number of MSMEs in Nigeria at 17,284,671, with total employment put at 32,414,884. If each of these SMEs is empowered to create one job each, that makes about 17 million jobs; if 50 per cent of this figure create one job each, that means 8.5 million jobs will be created. “If a quarter of the total are empowered, and they create one job each, over four million jobs will be created. So the figure is workable and conservative and I’ve directed the parastatals to get it done as a key performance index. Our job is to put structures in place to make it happen.”