By Ozioruva Aliu, BENIN CITY

THE Young CEO Initiative, a group of young entrepreneurs on Monday called for the creation of a ministry for young entrepreneurs to stimulate Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria.

Founder of the initiative, Aigbe Omorege made the call during a news conference in Benin City where he said the call for the creation of the ministry became necessary to relate directly with young entrepreneurs and drive the spirit of entrepreneurship.

He also called on President Bola Tinubu to instruct the Central Bank of Nigeria to make public the currency swap between Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China which he said was supposed to increase the capacity of young entrepreneurs interested in doing business with China and Chinese businesses.

According to him, it is the young entrepreneurs that employ the highest number of people in Nigeria thereby generating the highest amount of revenue as far as Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Progress (GDP) is concerned.

Omorege who is the Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Paint said “We want the president to instruct the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) to make public the currency swap agreements between the CBN and the People’s Republic of China Central Bank, so that our people can take leverage of this.

“Remember, a few days ago, a Human Rights activist, Femi Falana came up with the revelation that there was a currency swap agreement between the two countries that will help our people going to do business in the People’s Republic of China not to source for dollars, but to exchange naira for China currency.

“If we know this early enough or this is made public, it will help to reduce the stress of sourcing for dollars,” he said.

He urged President Tinubu to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, particularly in the areas of clearing imported goods.

“The situation at the clearing point or the entry point as far as the clearing system is concerned is frustrating to us.

“The high cost of clearing has also increased the cost of commodities in the market, most especially for those of us in the manufacturing industry.

“We also ask that government subsidies dollars for young entrepreneurs that go into importation of raw materials for manufacturing. This will help to crash the cost of commodities in the market,” said the initiative’s founder.

The young entrepreneur regretted that many enterprises belonging to members of the Initiative had folded up in recent times due to the prevailing economic situation and called on the government at all levels to declare a state of emergency on the economies that are within their purviews to encourage the young people who are contributing to the economy of the country.