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FG, Korea, UNDP Partner to Build Abuja Entrepreneurship Hub for Young Innovators

The Federal Government has projected December 2027 for the full completion and operation of the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE), a new hub designed to support young entrepreneurs and startups across Nigeria.

The Minister of State for Industry, Mr John Enoh, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the groundbreaking ceremony of the centre, an initiative under the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN).

The centre is being funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with a focus on strengthening entrepreneurship and innovation.

ACE is expected to support 500 prospective young entrepreneurs and 400 startups in sectors including FinTech, EdTech, HealthTech and AgriTech, while providing services to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Abuja and surrounding northern cities.

Enoh described the project as more than a physical structure, saying it would provide an enabling environment for entrepreneurs, innovators and businesses to grow.

“Government is here to build; we are no longer making a promise, we are here to make things happen,” he said.

According to him, the centre will provide training, business formalisation and investment-readiness support, while connecting incubators, investors, financial institutions and entrepreneurs through a structured incubation pipeline.

He added that the facility would promote inclusion through provisions for persons with disabilities and gender considerations, while its interior would showcase Nigerian creativity, visual arts and cultural expression.

Enoh said the Federal Government was also implementing the Nigerian Industrial Cluster Programme to strengthen industrial clusters and create platforms for businesses to grow sustainably across the country.

He urged incubators, investors and entrepreneurs to enrol as founding collaborators in the ACE Incubation Pipeline, describing the groundbreaking as the beginning of a wider entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The minister also called on the media to promote the centre internationally, saying it could help Abuja strengthen its position in Nigeria’s emerging digital economy.

The Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr Charles Odii, said the agency was developing programmes to take entrepreneurship development beyond state capitals and into communities across Nigeria.

Odii said the initiative would be complemented by entrepreneurship training through an institute and polytechnic, where beneficiaries could acquire practical skills alongside National Diploma qualifications.

He said SMEDAN’s industrial development centres across the country were also being repositioned as productive hubs, with clusters operating from previously underutilised facilities where appropriate.

According to him, UNDP had supported the solarisation of SMEDAN’s Idu facility, allowing it to operate continuously and attract small businesses, including entrepreneurs from neighbouring countries.

Odii said the agency was working to reach Nigeria’s estimated 39,624 micro, small and medium enterprises through programmes tailored to their different operating environments.

He called for increased support for MSMEs, noting that available funding remained inadequate compared with the scale of businesses requiring assistance.

Odii thanked Korea and its development partners for supporting the ACE project, saying stronger cooperation between Nigerian and Korean businesses could promote value-chain development, investment and knowledge exchange.

The Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Yo-an Jeong, described the groundbreaking as an important milestone in the growing economic partnership between Nigeria and South Korea.

Jeong said the centre represented an investment in young people, entrepreneurship and innovation, stressing that Nigeria’s youth would play a critical role in the country’s economic future.

He said Korea’s development experience demonstrated the importance of investing in education and human potential, noting that educated young people could become engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, managers and skilled professionals.

The ambassador said Korea had progressed from dependence on development assistance to becoming a major economy, but stressed that its experience should serve as an example rather than a prescription for Nigeria.

He expressed hope that entrepreneurs trained at ACE would build successful companies, including technology firms capable of developing partnerships with Korean businesses.

Jeong said the centre should become a platform for innovation, a home for entrepreneurs, a catalyst for enterprise development and a bridge between ideas and investment.

He urged stakeholders to ensure that ACE remained open, inclusive and sustainable, while providing opportunities for Nigerian and Korean entrepreneurs to exchange ideas and build mutually beneficial partnerships.

He commended SMEDAN, UNDP, KOICA and other institutions involved in the project, stressing that its success would depend on sustained collaboration among government, development partners and the private sector.