FG To Boost Youth Employment Through 43 Free Trade Zones

Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that eligible Nigerians are gainfully employed across the country.

The creation of 43 Free Trade Zones across the country, according to Adesugba, was one of the measures put in place to achieve this.

He went on to say that the trade zones would create jobs and reduce youth unrest in Nigeria, ensuring that the younger generations contribute meaningfully to the country’s development.

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Adesugba gave the assurance during a breakfast forum organized by the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce in Lagos titled “Non-Oil Exports: Situation Report and Way Forward.”

“In the face of dwindling and unstable revenue from oil, rising demand from foreign exchange, insecurity, external debt, and so on, the free trade zone and special economic zones provide the panacea to reinvigorate the non-oil sector,” Adesugba, who was represented by an Assistant Director in the agency, Mr Augustine Onyekwelu, said.

According to him, in these trying times of youth restlessness, the free trade zone is a valuable tool for addressing unemployment while also improving non-oil exports.

Dame Adebola Williams, President of the Chamber, expressed concern about Nigeria’s over-reliance on crude oil exports.