By Kofoworola Fakeye, JKNewsMedia Reporter
NIGERIA’s YOUTH population remains the country’s greatest asset, President Bola Tinubu said on Tuesday in Abuja as he assured foreign investors that the nation’s ready to learn and tech savvy workforce can integrate into the global market.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that speaking while receiving a delegation from Mastercard led by its Global Chief Executive Officer, Michael Miebach, at the State House, the President welcomed the company’s proposal to train five million businesses and equip them with digital skills.
Tinubu said the Nigerian economy had been repositioned and stabilised to participate fully in the global economy, with a focus on empowering youths and small businesses through digital skills and tools.
He added that the ongoing formalisation of Nigeria’s largely informal small business sector would create opportunities for digital transitions, investments, employment and growth.
“I am glad that you are very familiar with the terrain. I can classify you as a Nigerian. MasterCard has a very big reputation in financial management, and opportunities are spreading in Nigeria,” he said.
The President noted that business orientation was gradually changing, with more small businesses registering and embracing technology. He said more Nigerian youths would be empowered with digital skills to address present and future challenges.
“The most important asset is our youth. I missed one thing in your remark: whether you met with the Bank of Industry (BOI). BOI has a database of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.
“Payment plans and platforms are very necessary for the inclusion of small and medium scale businesses.
“What you have been doing with our young population is commendable, and we will continue to support that in every form. As the host country, the agreements we have with you are valid, and I want you to see us as partners,” he said.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said economic reforms had created opportunities for integration, particularly in credit and payment systems.
“You do more than payments, and that includes the work which you are doing in Nigeria through the MasterCard foundation to support and strengthen small businesses and the informal sector.
“This aligns well with the reforms of Mr President in different areas, cutting across the public and private sectors, including the ongoing efforts to digitise government services. We aim to enhance and empower at least 3 million youths in Nigeria.
“We are creating opportunities for work within the digital economy, the formalisation of the very large informal sector that we have in Nigeria.
“One of the major reforms by Mr President in fiscal and tax matters has led to more than 10,000 informal businesses applying for registration every day over the past few months.
“This speaks to the opportunities that abound in Nigeria for organisations like MasterCard,” he said.
Oyedele said the President’s policy also covered mortgages, personal loans, consumer credit, auto loans, small business credit and student loans.
He added that significant opportunities existed in the credit economy for Mastercard to improve payment systems in Nigeria and across Africa, including the use of the naira for swaps without third currencies.
He also noted that five of the nine fintech unicorns are in Nigeria.
Miebach assured the President of Mastercard’s support for implementing the economic reforms.
“We have a business here since 2011, and we have seen the country grow, and we have seen the country lead. We have seen your obviously clear alignment of fiscal and monetary policy that you have driven. In our world systems, there is a lot of momentum in Nigeria,” he said.
Recalling his role in establishing Mastercard’s operations in Nigeria, Miebach said he hired the company’s first employee in Lagos in 2011.
“It’s been a long-standing history, and today we facilitate a big aspect of the economy. In Nigeria, we are preventing $200 million in fraud and bringing in $2 billion in foreign exchange. We are helping the SME sector thrive and, of course, partner with your banks.
“We recognise the moment that we are in. We spent time with the CBN Governor and had an opportunity to meet the leading bankers yesterday in Lagos, to see where everything is going and the opportunity here to unlock the power of the 40 million SMEs in Nigeria, to really connect the diaspora to the homeland and ensure Nigeria is the most thriving and biggest economy on the continent.
“We want to drive the intra African digital economy,” he said.
Miebach said Mastercard had already created a framework and platform to empower 40 million small businesses in Nigeria with digital skills.
“Many small businesses would like to have a digital part of their business, and they don’t know how to do that. Capacity building of small businesses vis a vis just opening a shop and keeping them safe in a cyber world,” he said.
He added that the company had developed a three-year programme for small businesses and planned a technical workshop to ensure action and impact.
Miebach also assured the President of investments in inclusivity, participation, trust and resilience in a digital world, as well as a Cyber Centre of Excellence focused on threat intelligence, incident response, AI risks and emerging risks.
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