General News
Closing the Gap in Social Inequality with Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship
By Dayo Aderugbo
For most developed countries, the youths remain an important focus in areas such as economic development, sustainability and nation building. When organisations and the government drive conversations and activities around social investments, these discourse are usually focused on empowering young people as they hold the power to drive growth across all levels of the economy both locally and internationally.
In a country like Nigeria, with lots of liquid resources and just about 2.11 trillion Naira in circulation as at May 2019 according to the CBN, the standard of living for the average citizen does not exactly reflect the volume of Nigeria’s asset. There is an existing gap in connecting education, employment and entrepreneurship within the youths, creating a great layer of social inequality.
Globally, more than 200 million young people are either unemployed, or they have jobs, but continue to live in poverty due to low income. This social and economic inequality is a challenge shared by many countries.
Infact, it is estimated that 1% of the world’s population will own two thirds of its wealth. This level of inequality stifles growth and creates disharmony. It significantly affects disadvantaged young people who often can’t access the skills and opportunities needed to close this income gap.
The question for us now is how do we build a sustainable development agenda, spearheaded by young people now and in the future. How do we invest in them and equip them to learn, earn and grow?
Achieving a more developed and sustainable society as a nation, calls for youth inclusion in closing the obvious existing inequality and prosperity gap. Heavy and consistent investment in the youth through education employment and entrepreneurship will contribute greatly to tackling this challenge.
Youths are often referred to social actors with the abilities to bring revolutionary changes and improvement in any society so there is a need to implement long term strategies to invest in future economies. Active youthful engagement in the labour market is a necessary prerequisite to generating a young people pool of resources for both government and private entities.
In Standard Chartered Bank, we believe that education, employment and entrepreneurship are three key pillars through which young people can be empowered. We do this through our Future Makers project, which seeks to tackle the issue of inequality and promote greater economic inclusion for young people in our communities. We encourage young people especially from low income households to take part in programmes focused on education, employability and entrepreneurship.
Our strong ambition is focused on raising USD50 million through fundraising and Bank-matching between 2019 and 2023 to empower the next generation of young people. We also realized that the success of some of our existing community programmes are projective to include expanding our goal to education programme for girls, incorporating financial education into all of our programmes and developing new global community programmes in employability and entrepreneurship.
We must not also forget the entrepreneurs in our communities, who remain valuable assets. There is a need to inspire and encourage them to their greatest potential as they possess what it takes to change the dynamics of how we live and work. Their innovations may improve standards of living and also create wealth.
Despite the strides made in technology, the “gender digital divide” remains a major concern. There is significant difference in access to technology and financial services for women owned enterprises than men.
In Nigeria, female population comprises of 49.34 per cent of the total population of Nigeria. With fewer income generating opportunities for the population at large, this leaves nearly half of the Nigerian population constituting women deprived of economic empowerment through employment, professional growth and livelihood opportunities. For us at Standard Chartered, this just isn’t good enough.
Similar to several emerging markets like Pakistan and Brazil, Nigeria is currently passing through a demographic transition, which has resulted in an increase in the working-age population i.e. youths comprising nearly half of the population, as a share of the total population.
To reap the ‘demographic dividend’ of this change, the economy needs to provide education and create productive and remunerative employment for young workforce entrants. Moreover, innovation through digitisation and entrepreneurship is a crucial and workable element in human capital development.
The bank has recently launched the Women in Tech Incubator programme (WiT) to help close this divide. WiT Tech targets female-led entrepreneurial teams and we provide them with training, mentorship and seed funding.
The incubators includes mentorship with the Bank’s own staff, connecting Women in Tech to other prominent brands like Google and Apple, and providing a platform for them to engage with experts so they could learn how to grow their business. The programme creates tangible and measurable impact to ensure that female entrepreneurs have the right opportunities to grow and nurture their business.
We are optimistic about the impact this programme will have on the socio-economic empowerment of female led entrepreneurs in Nigeria. The support the beneficiaries will get will go a long way in ensuring the sustainability of the businesses while creating employment for more women and youths in the country.
“This initiative builds on the Bank’s track record of increasing women’s access to entrepreneurial finance, employability and supporting adolescent girls and women through financing and capacity building.”
From our standpoint, the development and sustenance of a good economy in any nation is dependent on the level of quality education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities especially available to young people.
Conscious steps must be taken towards equipping the youth regardless of class and economic status, with access to opportunities needed to realize their full potential to foster greater economic inclusion.
(Dayo Aderugbo is the Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing Standard Chartered Bank for Nigeria and West Africa)
Federal government recently received a proposed protocol agreement from India that could pave the way for agricultural cooperation between the two countries.
Abishek Singh, India’s high commissioner to Nigeria, announced the proposal recently n Abuja during the India-Nigeria Business Forum on Agriculture and Allied Sectors.
New Delhi’s proposed cooperation would support Nigeria’s food security efforts, with the goal of reducing post-harvest losses by nearly 50% and expanding agricultural processing.
It would also cover technology transfers, mechanization, financing solutions and capacity building.
Abuja has opened similar discussions with China.
Only recently, Mukhtar Muhammed, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, said Nigeria wanted to deepen scientific and technological cooperation with Beijing in agriculture.
The discussions with China have focused on developing low-cost, solar-powered cold storage facilities and transferring food-processing technologies.
Nigeria, also wants to work with Chinese research institutes to develop infrastructure that can improve the preservation of perishable products.
Nigeria’s outreach to its Asian partners addresses a major problem for the agricultural sector.
The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) estimates that Africa’s most populous country loses 30 million to 40 million tons of food each year before it reaches consumers.
Those losses are worth an average of about N3.5 trillion ($2.5 billion) annually, according to data the institution presented at a workshop in Kaduna in July 2026.
Perishable products are particularly vulnerable, according to local media reports, with fruits and vegetables accounting for an estimated 40% to 50% of total losses.
The government has already launched its own response to the problem.
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) indicted the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other ministries over administrative lapses that allowed the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) to operate.
Musa Aliyu, chairman, ICPC, stated that NITDA, alongside the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Budget Office, and other bodies, failed to carry out adequate due diligence and standard operating procedures.
ICPC said however, clarified that the findings pointed to severe internal control weaknesses and administrative negligence rather than active official complicity by NITDA and the other affected agencies.
The briefing followed a 30-day investigation ordered by the president on July 7 into allegations surrounding the purported presidential council.
The commission also cleared the presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of any wrongdoing but blamed institutional lapses in several ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Aliyu said investigators established that Adeniyi Adeyemi, the director-general, was never appointed by the federal government and that the PFIPC had no legal existence.
“As you may recall, on the 7th of July, Mr. President directed the ICPC to conduct an investigation into the fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and submit a report within 30 days,” he said.
“Today, exactly within the stipulated period, we have submitted an interim report based on our interactions with all stakeholders involved.”
According to Aliyu, Tinubu directed the commission to make its findings public in the interest of transparency and accountability.
He said the investigation found that Adeyemi’s purported appointment letter was forged.
“It has been established that Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was never appointed by the Federal Government or any authority whatsoever,” he said.
“The Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, which sometimes they called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was never established by any law, executive order or any valid instrument of government.
“The appointment letter presented by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was completely forged alongside similar documents used to perpetuate the illegal activities of the fake agency.”
Aliyu stated that a purported government gazette used to legitimise the organisation was also fabricated.
“If you recall, there was a gazette which he used to support the fake agency. That gazette is an illegal document that never passed through the processes prescribed by law,” he stated.
“Our investigation found that the office used by the fake agency was the office of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. The office was broken into and access was gained illegally. That was how he was able to operate from there.”
Aliyu also revealed that investigators uncovered two additional fictitious government agencies allegedly created by the suspect — the FCT Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership (FIPA-PPP).
According to him, fake legislative instruments were used to create the agencies and open bank accounts.
Despite the elaborate scheme, the ICPC chairman said the investigation found no evidence that federal government funds were disbursed to the fake council.
“Our investigation found that no funds of the federal government were approved or disbursed to the fake PFIPC,” he said.
“We also discovered no weaknesses in the systems of the State House or the Central Bank of Nigeria during our investigation. The fake appointment letter did not originate from the presidency.
“Our investigation found that some public officers failed to carry out due diligence and failed to comply with standard operating procedures in their ministries and departments. That gave him the opportunity to carry out these illegal acts.”
Nigeria tax system is build on taxing prosperity not poverty, according to Dr. Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman, Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
Dr. Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman, Nigeria Revenue Service
Adedeji, also dismissed the insinuation that the government’s tax reform is aimed at extracting money from Nigerians .
He said the essence of reform is creating an economic environment where individuals and businesses can prosper.
Dr. Adedeji made the clarifications on Sunday night while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he defended the administration’s tax reforms and addressed concerns over rising government revenue amid the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
According to him, the government’s objective is to tax the fruits of investment rather than the investment itself.
“For us at Nigeria Tax, we are not there to extract. Our focus is not revenue. I don’t want to tax poverty. I’m to tax the fruit, not the seed, and I’m to tax the return, not investment.”
Adedeji explained that the government would generate more revenue as businesses became more profitable, without necessarily increasing the tax burden on individuals and companies.
He said a company that made N100 in profit could generate N30 in tax revenue for the government, but if its profit increased to N200 or N300, government revenue would rise accordingly.
“So, if I want to make more, I must work for you to make more. And that is why it is in the best interest of us in Nigeria Revenue Service that businesses are doing well, individuals are doing well,” he said.
He said the approach was consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda, which seeks to remove barriers to investment and create a more conducive environment for businesses to operate and expand.
Adedeji cited reforms in the electricity sector as part of the government’s efforts to stimulate economic activity.
He noted that the Electricity Act had devolved powers to state governments to generate, transmit and distribute electricity, arguing that improved power supply would boost production and productivity across the economy.
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