The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) lauded the government for its recent passage of the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP). This green light results from years of a collaborative effort between the commercial sector, spearheaded by NESG, and the public sector, spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. Notably, the first step in establishing the National Sports Industry Policy was the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#23), providing a platform for the NESG to present sports as a commercial enterprise.
This was supplemented at NES#24 in 2018 with a second Breakout Session. Together with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NESG) held the 25th NES in 2019 with the goals of institutionalizing sports as a Private Sector driven industry per worldwide best practices and creating thriving youth-based industries to fuel the Nigerian economy. Eleven central ministries (Education, Information & Culture, Women’s Affairs, Justice, Works, Health, Industry, Trade &Investment, Finance, Budget & National Planning, Youth & Sports Development, Science & Technology, Communication & Digital Economy) collaborated on a series of technical meetings to address the issue, the first of its kind in the history of this country.
NESG-hosted sessions engage private and public sectors.
Important partnership aims to explore ideas in Sector-specific breakout sessions and to harmonize cross-cutting, cross-sectoral problems that significantly affect the reform and repositioning of the country’s Sports Industry. The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the National Economic and Social Group (NESG) also hosted Inter-Ministerial Technical Sessions to establish a channel for continuous dialogue and engagement between the private and public sectors to plot a long-term strategy for realizing the potential of the Sports Industry and facilitating the growth of the full spectrum of the Sports value chain.
After the sessions, at the NESG Secretariat in Lagos, the NESG and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development signed the first-ever Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Nigeria’s record on the development of the sports industry. The Sports Industry Working Group (SIWG) and its Steering Committee were officially launched by Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, in Abuja many months ago, in line with the Ministry’s efforts to guarantee the industrialization of the Nigeria Sports sector and in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
NSIP approval paves the way for numerous significant sectors.
The SIWG was tasked with addressing cross-cutting, cross-sectoral cooperation issues in the sports sector and facilitating the repositioning of sports through a comprehensive National Sports Industry Policy, targeted legislation to drive the policy’s implementation, and targeted and constant initiatives, incentives, investments, and interventions to support the policy’s implementation. On July 28, 2020, the NESG, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, and key sector players met with the minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, to deliver the NSIP draft report.
NESG explains that the endorsement of the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) paves the way for numerous significant sectors. Among the sector are federation and athlete development are education, health, capacity development, and training; community inclusivity and social development; facilities and infrastructure; economic growth; legislative environment and international relations; funding, finance, and investment; and sports and the digital economy. The Federal Government has classified sports as a business rather than a leisure activity to realize the objective of the National Sports Industry Policy, which intends to use sports to promote national unity and cohesion, public health and fitness, economic development, and global recognition.
The sports policy framework was designed to support the industry’s aims.
This resulted in the formation of Sports Nigeria LTD/GTE 2021 to collect, facilitate, and enable the necessary commercial and social business sectors’ investments in the sports industry. The sports policy framework is also designed to assist the industry in achieving its aims. Sports Nigeria LTD/GTE and the NESG convened a dinner session NES#28 to inform the organized private sector, investors, and government, especially at the sub-national level, on how to harness the sports industry to generate a 2% GDP contribution and 2% direct employment by 2030 through an annual revenue objective of two trillion Naira and 3-6 million direct and indirect jobs over 10 years.
Related Link
NESG: Website
