The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and one of its main Strategic Implementation Partners(SIP), Konga have outlined some pathways to help the Nigerian youth attain leadership excellence as well as leverage on e-commerce for wealth creation and sustainability.
Making this known in Abuja recently at the maiden edition of the Young CEOs Summit by the Youth Minister Sunday Dare while speaking on the theme: Leveraging Technology for Sustainable Commerce and Leadership Excellence.
The Youth Minister, who was represented at the Summit by his Special Assistant on Youth and ICT, Ann Kemi Areola, revealed that Nigeria’s e-commerce spend currently stands at $12b and is projected to reach $75b in 2025.
He said Nigeria is the 33rd largest market in the world with a revenue of $7b in 2021, contributing to the worldwide growth rate of 29% last year.
Dare also outlined some areas of the Youth Ministry’s partnership with e-commerce giants Konga which would be beneficial to young people and small and medium scale enterprises(SMEs).
Some of these benefits are:
Onboarding SMEs to retail products online at 50% discounted prices with the Ministry picking the bills for six months; provision of co-working spaces for free; provision of warehousing for merchandise with 50% cost reduction; free virtual trainings; employment and signing up of logistics companies and individuals introduced by the Ministry and engagement of young persons registered under the Ministry’s Work Experience Programme(WEP).
According to Dare, about two hundred thousand(200,000) youth have shown interest in the Ministry’s partnership with Konga so far.
In the area of leadership, the Minister said that the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre(CLTC) trained about three thousand(3000)youth on leadership skills in 2020. The number rose to forty two thousand(42,000) in 2021.
He challenged young people to utilize the power of information technology for data collection in helping with policy development and the formulation of intervention programmes for national growth and development.
“Acquiring leadership skills is important for young people. The transfer of knowledge is key. The Ministry is deeply involved and interested in initiatives such as the Nigerian Youth Parliament(NYP).
“It is important to note that the first speaker of the NYP, Rt. Honourable Luke Onofiok is now a member of the House of Representatives. He was a member of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly and later the Speaker,” Dare added.
The Nigerian Youth Parliament was inaugurated in 2008 by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as a training programme geared towards preparing young people for leadership roles and giving them opportunities to make inputs in decisions and matters that affect them. Its participants are drawn from all 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
