More support is coming the way of Nigeria’s entertainment sector in the form of the Growth and Employment Project (GEM).
Organised by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of GEM that is fully functional at the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment on August 12 stakeholders gathered at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) House in Ikeja, Lagos for the first entertainment sector sensitisation workshop of the GEM.
They got a briefing from the project coordinator, Y.S. Labaran, who told them that the sensitisation workshops have been designed as a critical step in the programme implementation, to ensure that the sector is fully informed about the project aims and have a chance to feed into the intervention plans from the outset.
He also outlined the timelines and said cluster mapping will commence in September and an Industry cluster group will be convened by December 2014 with funding activities kicking off in 2015.
Also at the event was the World Bank representative, Andrew Gartside, who stressed that the initiative is focused on the private sector and therefore the intervention will be driven by the needs and aspirations of the sector.
He said the project would provide inputs through funding of various cluster activities including cross cutting issues like training and provision of information sharing and collaboration platforms.
Firms will also be funded to commercialise new products and develop innovative ideas.
Further sensitisation events will be held in Kano, Jos and Awka throughout the month of August.