the replication of the centres in each state of the federation. at this juncture, i would like to urge others, particularly governments, ngos and wealthy individuals in society to explore setting up edcs, as they can be a valuable conduit for building the entrepreneurial capacity of people and assisting them to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the country. 13. 0 ladies and gentlemen, the edcs hold promise for engaging our youth in productive and positive activities. it will assist in job and wealth creation, promote growth and bis central bankers ’ speeches development and checkmate restiveness and other vices in our society. all efforts must therefore be made to support the realization of its objectives. 14. 0 in conclusion, i would like to once again congratulate sheild academy partners and the government of cross river state for winning the bid to be the implementation agency and host state for the south - south edc and solicit the participation of all the stakeholders in the south - south zone to ensure the success of the centre in the zone. on this note, i declare the central bank of nigeria - entrepreneurship development centre south - south geopolitical zone opened and particularly expect the centre to be a resourceful entrepreneurship centre for the teeming youths of the south - south geopolitical zone. 15. 0 thank you all for your kind attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches

of 1, 743 trainees were linked to financial institutions from which they obtained loans amounting to n227. 84 million to start or expand their businesses. this first phase of the cbn - edc initiative came to an end april 2013 having operated for 5 years. ladies and gentlemen, for sustainability purposes, i am pleased to inform you that the management of the bank has extended the tenure of the first phase cbn - edcs by an additional three years to enable the host state governments in the aforementioned zones key in and participate actively in the enhanced edc model. the bank is therefore in the process of putting together phase 2 of the programme for the south - east, north - west and south - west zones. 6. 0 the modest achievements recorded and the experiences of the edc have encouraged the bank to roll out the project in the remaining three geopolitical zones of northeast ( maiduguri ), north - central ( markudi ) and south - south ( calabar ). to date the new centres have trained all together 1, 381 participants in the first half of 2013, in spite of teething challenges faced. i particularly appreciate the government of cross river state for allocating a temporary training venue for the implementing agency, sheild academy bis central bankers ’ speeches partners to commence its training activities before today ’ s official flag - off of this magnificent building that will permanently host the centre. 7. 0 permit me at this point to take a few minutes to provide a brief highlight on the edc to create an understanding of its concept, operational modality and what is required from stakeholders ( government, cbn, implementing agencies, and financial institutions etc ) to make the programme a success. 8. 0 the edc provides a platform for state governments, private sector and the central bank of nigeria to jointly support entrepreneurship development across the country. the centres provide facilities for training particularly secondary school leavers and university graduates to obtain skills on how to identify, choose, and practically engage in profitable production of goods and services. 9. 0 the state government is expected to provide the enabling environment through the provision of conducive structure and a site for the centres, while the central bank of nigeria engages private consultants to independently operate the centres. it is worth reiterating that the states where the edcs are located and the implementation agency were selected through a competitive bidding process to guarantee efficiency and effectiveness in its operations. 10. 0 the governments of the respective states are also expected to en