opening remarks by dr. godwin i. emefiele, con at the official launching of the tertiary institutions entrepreneurship scheme ( ties ) thursday, 25th november, 2021 protocols good afternoon, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. i am pleased to welcome you to the official launching of the entrepreneurship tertiary scheme institutions ( ties ), an intervention of the central bank of nigeria aimed at addressing the dual challenge of youth unemployment and underemployment in nigeria. the scheme, developed in partnership with nigerian polytechnics and universities, is designed to harness the potentials of graduate entrepreneurs by creating a paradigm shift from the pursuit of white - collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship for economic development and job creation. 1. as you are all aware, at the occasion of the 51st convocation of the university of lagos, in july 2021, i delivered the convocation lecture titled, national development and knowledge economy in the digital age : leapfrogging smes into the 21st century. at that event, i promised that the central bank will seek fresh collaboration with the nation ’ s tertiary institutions entrepreneurship to programmes, develop and to support — through the provision of access to finance — graduates and undergraduates who have bankable ideas, to bring the ideas to fruition. engagements have been on - going between the central bank and the leadership of some of our tertiary institutions regarding the framework for an innovative financing model that will support entrepreneurship development among our graduates and undergraduates. this launch of the tertiary institutions entrepreneurship scheme today, is a culmination of the engagements and fulfillment of that promise. 2. with about 600, 000 students graduating yearly from nigerian tertiary institutions, and without the commensurate employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors, it has become imperative that government, at all levels, puts in place policy measures to development measures support among would our create entrepreneurial youth. an such enabling business ecosystem that supports innovation and enables the youth to unleash their entrepreneurial potential, by redirecting their focus from seeking white - collar jobs to a culture of entrepreneurship development. the ecosystem should provide support in reorientating, training, and providing a financing model apt to the peculiarity of the sector within which the businesses operate. 3. ladies and gentlemen, entrepreneurship is an integral part of any economy, and entrepreneurs play a key role in driving growth and innovation, which in turn results in job creation. in line with its mandate of ensuring monetary and price stability, and its developmental mandate of ensuring inclusive growth in the

me spend a bit of time on the second factor, that is on talent development. joseph e. stiglitz, the nobel laureate in economic sciences once said, “ development is about transforming lives of people, not just transforming economies ”. to thrive in the new economy, policy strategies must tilt towards understanding the ‘ future of work ’ and future proofing the workforce. the world economic forum reports that by 2030 wide - scale investments in upskilling can boost global gdp by usd 6. 5 trillion and lead to the net creation of 5. 3 million new jobs globally. with the rapid adoption of technology, it is projected that 50 % of all employees today will need reskilling by 2025, while critical thinking and problem - solving skills will grow in prominence. 1 the institute for the future has identified top skills that will be critical to combine with technological advancement, including novel and adaptive thinking, social intelligence and 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches cognitive load management. meanwhile, according to an organisation for economic co2 skills imbalances in malaysia, employers reported operation and development ( oecd ) studyon shortages in communication skills and social skills, such as social perceptiveness and social orientation. as a nation and at the firm level, we must therefore know where our comparative advantage lies, and how this competitive edge is affected by the global megatrends and technological advancements. we then need to prepare our people as only then can we successfully navigate and transform our economy and our organisations. against this backdrop, it is important that organisations strengthen the end - to - end human capital framework and processes. in the new normal, organisations should look to pivot their human capital strategy to focus on integrating well - being into the design of work, leverage talent analytics to harness workforce potential, and embed adaptability and agility in learning and development ( l & d ). allow me to elaborate on three l & d approaches that i believe will help organisations thrive in an age of technological disruptions. first, is the identification of core and emerging competencies that can meet an organisation ’ s objectives. in the malaysian financial sector for example, specialist skillsets remain a priority. these include those with backgrounds in risk, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital strategies and products, compliance, and corporate finance. increasingly, with the impact of climate change and green financing, new demands will include climate modelling techniques, and environmental accounting. second, organisations have no choice but must upskill and