Business
Minister Lists SMEs Benefits
The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, said on Tuesday that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were the foundation and backbone of every strong economy.
Maku said in Jos that the Federal Government was committed to a strong base for SMEs in its efforts to strengthen the economy and make more Nigerians more self-reliant.
The minister spoke when he led the national good governance tour to inspect the Technology Incubation Centre, Bukuru.
He said the centre represented an institutional mechanism for research and development, adding that it was integrated by the Federal Government to support budding entrepreneurs in the development of new technology-based firms.
“This institution helps in value re-orientation by creating the attitude toward personal initiation, creative innovation, risk taking and entrepreneurship,’’ he said.
He said that the SMEs had continued to create jobs that had empowered many youths.
The minister later inspected the activities of 15 entrepreneurs some of which specialised on food processing, fabrication, metal work, leather work and solid minerals processing.
Others were concerned with school chalks as well as Plaster of Paris (POP) used by medics.
We observed that the products were carried out using locally machines invented by some of the entrepreneurs.
Mr Dashe, the centre manager, in a speech, said that the centre had admitted 15 entrepreneurs with viable businesses, and had manufactured 36 new products while creating 81 direct job opportunities.
Our correspondent reports that the centre was established in 2007 to commercialise research and development.
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Blue Economy: Minister Seeks Lifeline In Blue Bond Amid Budget Squeeze

Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is seeking new funding to implement its ambitious 10-year policy, with officials acknowledging that public funding is insufficient for the scale of transformation envisioned.
Adegboyega Oyetola, said finance is the “lever that will attract long-term and progressive capital critical” and determine whether the ministry’s goals take off.
“Resources we currently receive from the national budget are grossly inadequate compared to the enormous responsibility before the ministry and sector,” he warned.
He described public funding not as charity but as “seed capital” that would unlock private investment adding that without it, Nigeria risks falling behind its neighbours while billions of naira continue to leak abroad through freight payments on foreign vessels.
He said “We have N24.6 trillion in pension assets, with 5 percent set aside for sustainability, including blue and green bonds,” he told stakeholders. “Each time green bonds have been issued, they have been oversubscribed. The money is there. The question is, how do you then get this money?”
The NGX reckons that once incorporated into the national budget, the Debt Management Office could issue the bonds, attracting both domestic pension funds and international investors.
Yet even as officials push for creative financing, Oloruntola stressed that the first step remains legislative.
“Even the most innovative financial tools and private investments require a solid public funding base to thrive.
It would be noted that with government funding inadequate, the ministry and capital market operators see bonds as alternative financing.
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