Asue Ighodalo, Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), has said that three out of four digital start-ups, valued in excess of one billion dollars, were founded by young Nigerian entrepreneurs.
Mr Ighodalo said this in his opening remarks at the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit on Monday in Abuja.
The NESG chairman said Nigerian technology entrepreneurs were able to leverage the digital transformation to succeed and attract local and foreign investments.
“As I stand before you today, three out of Africa’s four startup unicorns, valued in excess of $1 billion, were founded by young Nigerian entrepreneurs.
“We celebrate the achievements of Interswitch, Flutterwave and Jumia. We can create and enable many more unicorns.
“I am convinced that our path to greatness lies within our people, but we must inspire and support ourselves to believe in our country and trust our leaders, who must, by their acts, earn our trust.”
He stressed that at the 2019 NES #25, young people reminded the summit of the issues that were of central priority of policy and governance.
Mr Ighodalo also recalled that the NES #26 in 2020 proposed several recommendations that were organised around ensuring a resilient economic recovery; strengthening partnerships; and unlocking sub-national competitiveness.
He added that meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and empowering the Nigerian youth also formed part of the recommendations.
