Ipaja Entrepreneurship Centre, Alimosho, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa
A pilot enterprise initiative in a land with 64 million unemployed young people

The Project

Established by Development Impact for Nigeria (DIFN), based in the UK, Ipaga Community Link (ICL), Lagos, already runs the Ipaga Skills Acquisition Centre, with three-year funding from Christian Aid, and the Ipaga Youth Volunteer Programme, funded by VSO International.

ICL identified the need for a complementary entrepreneurship centre, and EDW is now collaborating with ICL and DIFN to establish the Ipaja pilot entrepreneurship centre. ICL have premises from which to operate, and EDW will train local people to build their skills so that they can deliver a holistic model of enterprise support and business counselling to young people in the local community.

Background

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with a population of 140 million. According to the 2006 provisional census, Nigeria has a youth population of 80 million, accounting for 60% of the population. The country suffers from extreme poverty: over 70 million people live on less than $1 a day.

Nigeria has some of the worst social indicators in the world: one in five children dies before the age of five; around 7 million children are not in school; and around 2.6 million people are living with HIV or AIDS.

Nigeria receives relatively little development assistance per capita (around $6) compared to the average for sub-Saharan Africa (over $20 per capita). The UK has increased its aid substantially, increasing its government development aid from £35 million in 2003 to 2004, to £80 million in 2006 to 2007, and to £100 million in 2007-2008.

Meeting the Need

There is a growing problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria, with over 64 million young people being unemployed, and of the 16 million employed, 1.6 million are actually underemployed. In addition, only 10% of the graduates released into the labour market annually by universities and other tertiary institutions are able to obtain paid employment.

The creation of an enterprise centre in Alimosho will be of great benefit to local young people, and the lessons learned from this pilot project could be used to promote and further inform the adaptation and development of a wider youth enterprise support programme for Nigeria.