As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 2021 International Youth Day, the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has challenged young business entrepreneurs across the country to grow their businesses to become top notch enterprises.
The ACCI director-general, Victoria Akai made this call when the Young CEO members of the chamber paid a courtesy call on her in commemoration of the 2021 International Youth Day with the theme, ‘Transforming food systems: youth innovation for human and planetary health.’
International Youth Day, commemorated annually on August 12 was established by the UN General Assembly on December17,1999, to give an opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young peoples’ voices, actions and initiatives as well as their meaningful, universal and equitable engagements.
Listing the areas of partnership with the youth to include exports, tourism, creative arts and ICT amongst others, the DG said the chamber was placing priority on businesses owned by young persons, hence the consideration of the membership base of the Young CEOs Club as the 5th category which was created to help young businesses grow and encouraged the youth to come onboard.
She urged the youths, especially women to take advantage of the opportunities at the chamber and also explore others that come their way in the area of access to market and opportunities to pitch business ideas to business investors.
A statement by the ACCI media/strategy officer, Olayemi John-Mensah, said Akai also called on the youth to take advantage of joint ventures’ facilitations, business networking meetings, mentorship programs, access to business advisory, free access to local forum, community networking opportunities to become policy fellows, adding “these are part of few of the things they stand to benefit when they become members of the chamber.”
One of the members of Young CEOs Club, Tayo Folorunso said there were a number of creative young people in the universities and other higher institutions of learning who needed to be encouraged to grow their ideas into reality.
