The Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo, has issued certificates to 75 graduates of the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) Resource Centre in Lagos.
Addressing media executives during the event, he said the initiative to train Nigerian entrepreneurs is from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, adding that the Federal Government is making moves to bridge the huge skills gap existing in the country.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a United States Trade Act, enacted on 18 May 2000 as Public Law 106 of the 200th Congress. AGOA has since been renewed to 2025. The legislation significantly enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.
The 75 graduates of the AGOA Centre who were issued certificates were trained for six weeks in garment making and fashion designing. Twenty-five of them were given immediate employment by Crown Natures, a Nigerian garment factory.
NEPC collaborated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to sponsor the training.
Awolowo alsi added that apart from UNIDO, the African Development Bank, AfriExim Bank and the ChinaExim bank were keying into the vision.
He said, “In order to bridge the skills gap, the government is planning to establish industrial parks with the necessary infrastructure for manufacturing.
“We are working with AfricaExim bank that has signed up with ChinaExim bank to work on a made-in-Africa initiative. They realise that wages have gone up in China and they are looking at Africa as the next production hub where they can bring in manufacturing companies to produce goods that they can export to Europe and other parts of the world. They have done it in Ethiopia and Mauritius and Nigeria is the next place they are looking at.”
