…says Renewed Hope Enterprise Bridge Initiative designed to ease burden of businesses across Nigeria
President Bola Tinubu has launched the Renewed Hope Enterprise Bridge Initiative designed to serve as a structured channel for continuous engagement between government and entrepreneurs in the country.
According to him, while there had been a quiet disconnect between policymakers and those who must navigate the policies daily, the Renewed Hope Enterprise Bridge Initiative was aimed at addressing the gap.
Speaking on Thursday when he officially launched the initiative and its website at the State House Conference Centre, the President who was representated by his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, pointed out that the administration understands the weight entrepreneurs carry.
“One side works with framework and projections, the other works with immediacy and risk. Bringing both into the same room is not symbolic; it is necessary.
“If a policy is to be useful, it must be informed by lived experience. And if an enterprise is to thrive, it must be supported by a system that understands it,” Tinubu said.
The Nigerian leader noted that no government could design effective response from a distance if it is really determined to get it right.
He continued: “Therefore, we must listen carefully, interrogate honestly and respond deliberately. You cannot treat what you have not properly diagnosed. And you cannot diagnose without listening. Across this country, business operates under conditions that would test even the most established system elsewhere.
“Yet, you persist; you build; you employ; you adapt. That contribution is not lost on us. At the same time, we are conscious that a policy must do more than exist on paper. It must translate into real improvement in how businesses start, grow, and compete. That is why today matters.”
The President commended Nigerian entrepreneurs for their role in keeping the nation’s economy moving, often under difficult circumstances, even as he assured that his administration is not indifferent to their realities.
He further assured that work was ongoing, engagement will continue, and where adjustments are required, they will be made.
“The establishment of the Renewed Hope Enterprise Bridge Initiative is intended to ensure that this is not a one-off conversation, but a continuing line of engagement between the government and entrepreneurs.
“And it has led to this dialogue – a deliberate effort to bring the people who shape policy into the same room with those who live with its consequences,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Barr. Hannatu Musa Musawa, highlighted the potential in the creative industry, noting that it was capable of attracting foreign investment into the country and boost entrepreneurship development.
Musawa said the Renewed Hope administration of the President has been working assiduously to improve the nation’s infra-investment and policy framework with a view to improving the confidence of international investors.
“Creative and digital economy are the two industry or sectors that have the most ability to give the return that entrepreneurs are looking for because those are two industries that have the ability to give huge returns more than any other sector,” Musawa added.
In her opening remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Entrepreneurship Development, Chalya Shagaya, said Tinubu’s belief in the role of entrepreneurs in driving national growth was clear and consistent.
Shagaya added the President remained committed to building an economy that works for all Nigerians, “particularly those who create jobs and drive innovation.
“It is what has made this engagement possible. If we are to achieve our national ambition of building a trillion-dollar economy, then entrepreneurs must be at the centre of the conversation consistently, deliberately and meaningfully.
