The Federal Government is open to collaborating with the private sector to reduce unemployment and poverty in the country, through exploring opportunities in the agribusiness sector.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who spoke when she received representatives of Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited, who were in the Ministry to introduce the company, stated that government was open to new ideas on how to reduce unemployment in the country.

Onyejeocha noted that government was intensely focused on finding ways to reduce unemployment, and was open to different approaches to achieving that.

She emphasised government’s readiness to employ different strategies to create job opportunities and generate employment, including leveraging on the proposal by Sahel Consulting to explore opportunities in the agribusiness sector.

The Minister explained that she invited them to seek possible areas of partnership with government in view of their excellent track record in the private sector, which she felt could be replicated in the public sector .

The team from Sahel Consulting, led by Aisha Hadejia, disclosed they came to seek collaboration with the ministry in generating employment through agribusiness.

The team took the management of the Ministry through a presentation spanning the profile of the company, and the areas and scope of possible collaboration with the ministry aimed at creating job opportunities and generating employment, an integral part of the mandate of the ministry.

Also speaking, Permanent Secretary, Labour and Employment, Ismaila Abubakar, stated that the Ministry would always be receptive to ideas and partnerships that would generate employment in the country, especially for the youth.