By Jennete Ugo Anya
The federal government says it has the financial capacity to fund priority projects, with the $12 million Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) positioned as a strategic investment in youth enterprise, innovation and job creation.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima recently stated this at the groundbreaking ceremony of the centre in Abuja, where he was represented by his Special Adviser on General Duties, Sen. Aliyu Modibbo.
He said the project aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda and the administration’s efforts to address unemployment by creating conditions for young Nigerians to build sustainable businesses.
“Our ambition is to make the youth employers of thousands, creators of lasting value and sources of national pride,” he said.
The Vice-President said the expansion of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the establishment of ACE reflected the government’s broader strategy to strengthen entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
He said the administration’s focus extended to sectors including FinTech, AgriTech and HealthTech, with the expectation that businesses emerging from these areas would support wider economic activity among traders, farmers and other economic actors.
For Shettima, ACE is intended to provide more than physical infrastructure. It is expected to help young entrepreneurs transform ideas into viable enterprises while connecting them to business support, infrastructure and investment.
The Vice-President also challenged entrepreneurs who had already received training to demonstrate the value of such interventions by building businesses capable of earning trust and meeting their obligations.
He urged beneficiaries to remain patient and committed to sustainable enterprise building, stressing that the ultimate measure of the centre’s success would be the businesses created and opportunities generated through it.
The project is being funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), with a $12 million contribution, while SMEDAN serves as the government partner and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as infrastructure delivery partner.
The centre is being developed at SMEDAN’s Idu Industrial Development Centre in Abuja after the completion of feasibility studies, site selection, partnership formalisation and site preparation.
UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Elsie Attafuah, said ACE could help convert Nigeria’s large youthful population into sustainable businesses and decent jobs.
“Nigeria has more than 75 million people aged between 15 and 35,” she said, describing the demographic as a significant potential driver of economic transformation.
That potential, however, comes alongside structural constraints. Attafuah said young people and MSMEs continued to face limited access to finance, digital infrastructure, business support and suitable innovation spaces.
ACE is designed to respond to some of those constraints through a dedicated platform that combines physical facilities with institutional connections.
The centre is expected to support 500 prospective young entrepreneurs and 400 startups operating in FinTech, EdTech, HealthTech and AgriTech. It will also serve MSMEs in Abuja and surrounding cities.
Its facilities will include time-share offices, hot-desking spaces, meeting rooms, training facilities and incubation areas, allowing businesses at different stages of development to access support within the same ecosystem.
The centre will also connect entrepreneurs to institutions involved in business registration, digital innovation, skills development, investment, export promotion, finance and enterprise support.
According to Attafuah, the project’s value will depend partly on the strength of the network built around it. UNDP, SMEDAN and KOICA plan to engage incubators, universities, financial institutions, private-sector organisations and entrepreneur networks to develop an ACE Incubation Pipeline.
The pipeline is expected to allow affiliated incubators and universities to run entrepreneurship programmes while construction is ongoing, creating a pool of potential participants for the centre’s first intake.
The project also incorporates inclusion and sustainability considerations. Attafuah said the design would provide accessibility for persons with disabilities and older persons, alongside gender-responsive features.
Green design principles will also feature in the facility, including renewable energy, low embodied-carbon technologies and locally sourced biorenewable materials.
UNDP’s involvement builds on an earlier intervention at SMEDAN’s Idu facility. Attafuah said the organisation supported its solarisation in 2024 through a 120KVA solar-powered mini-grid, demonstrating its broader approach of working with Nigerian institutions to improve productive environments.
The ACE project consequently represents a test of whether coordinated government and development-partner support can move entrepreneurship programmes beyond training into enterprise formation, investment and job creation.
For the federal government, the immediate commitment is to fund and deliver the facility. For entrepreneurs, the longer-term measure will be whether the centre can help turn skills and ideas into durable businesses that contribute to Nigeria’s productive economy.
