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By Anthony Maliki, Abuja
Japanese and Nigerian governments have signed and exchanged notes on two grant aid projects to boost business development valued at 4.776 billion yen.
The Counsellor of the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, Mr. Hitoshi Kozaki, signed on behalf of Japan while the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and His Excellency Mr. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu signed for Nigeria.
A statement from the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria explained that 3.142 billion yen is for “Project for Improvement of Environment to Support Startup Companies Addressing Social Issues” while 1.634 billion yen is meant for “Project for the Development of Entrepreneur Support Facility in Abuja.”
For the “Project for Improvement of Environment to Support Startup Companies Addressing Social Issues” segment, it noted that in Nigeria, the market for startups (SUs) is expanding as a leader in industrial diversification.
It lamented that while SUs are expected to play an active role in the future, there is a lack of investment in areas that contribute to solving social issues such as health, education, and agriculture.
It pointed out that in order to improve the investment environment for local SU companies that are working to solve social issues in the country, the cooperation will provide funds to a account established by the Nigerian government and provide necessary cooperation to develop a system that contributes to the sustainable growth of SU companies, thereby creating and strengthening the investment environment surrounding SU companies in the country.
It said with this, it would be contributing to building a foundation for sustainable economic growth through solving social issues through innovation. This cooperation will also be the first project under the “Grant Aid for Promoting Private Capital Mobilization.”
Under the “Project for the Development of Entrepreneur Support Facility in Abuja” worth 1.634 billion yen, the statement stressed that it aims to promote the creation of manufacturing businesses and collaboration between stakeholders related to the investment environment surrounding SU companies by establishing a new SU hub facility in Abuja.
The hub, it noted, will have digital machine tools, thereby contributing to solving social issues through innovation and industrial diversification through the creation of new industries in the country.
According to the statement, at the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8) in August, 2022, Japan announced its intention to support businesses that solve social issues, including support for SU, and these cooperation projects are a concrete example of this commitment.
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