ABUJA – The National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) says it will partner with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to promote Nigerian products in the world market.
Mr Isa Yusuf, NBTI’s Acting Director, Commercials, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that over 800 local products would benefit from the initiative.
He said that the mandate of the board was to encourage entrepreneurs to produce quality products for domestic consumption and for export.
“As at the moment, the National Board for Technology Incubation has over 814 different technology products for marketing to domestic and global communities.
“We mentor the entrepreneurs and link them up with knowledge centres so that research and development that are coming from these knowledge centres can impact on the entrepreneurs.
“This will help them improve on the quality of their products, make them acceptable and competitive across the globe.
“Currently we are discussing with NEPC on how best to promote and market these products,’’ he said.
Yusuf said that the Board currently has over 27 technology incubation centres across the country and five extensions where products could be produced by entrepreneurs.
He said that the programme was a Federal Government initiative with input from state governments where such centres are located with contributions from the private sector.
“In most communities you find young men and women who have talents and skills, but the place to operate; and even the capital is lacking.
“ So the idea is to bring them together and provide a common place for them at a mechanism set up purposely to nurture nascent talents that otherwise would have been wasted,’’ he said.
NBTI is Nigeria’s agency for the stimulation and development of small business enterprises.
It helps small-scale enterprises by creating the enabling environment, link them with sources of raw materials, provide management capabilities, capital, technology, labour and marketing opportunities. (NAN)
