Coordinating Minister for the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
| credits: File copy
The Federal Government has called for support from the private sector to enable it to address the unemployment situation in the country.
As part of measures to address the country’s huge unemployment rate, the government has signified its intention to give tax rebate to job-creating firms
The Project Director, Graduate Internship Programme of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme, Mr. Peter Papka, said this during an interview on the sidelines of an orientation and induction programme for interns.
He said, “The major challenge of the GIS is that the level of buy-in from the firms is below expectation.
“This is despite the advantages that will accrue to such firms. They should enjoy free labour at government expense as government will pay the monthly stipends of the interns; they get the best interns to join their workforce and get a cost-free opportunity to render their corporate social responsibility.
“The project is also planning other incentives like tax rebates for companies registered with it.”
The GIS was inaugurated in October 2012 to create opportunity for graduates to be attached to firms where they could work for a year and enjoy a monthly stipend of N18,000.
Such interns can use the opportunity to gain work experience and enhance their employability.
Papka said since the commencement of the programme last year, over 83,000 beneficiaries had been registered.
This number, he noted, was beyond the 50,000 allotted for the scheme in any given year.
He said the induction had set the stage for the deployment of beneficiaries for the programme.
Papka, however, lamented the low buy-in by firms, adding that only 60 companies in Abuja had so far indicated interest in the scheme.
The 60 firms, he said, had been assigned 168 interns to work for a period of one year.
To garner more support for the GIS, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will on Monday (today) hold an interactive session with captains of industry, heads of multinational and large corporations, Small and Medium Enterprises and other private sector organisations in all sectors of the economy.
Job-creating firms to get tax rebate — FG
No comments:
Post a Comment