2.2 Inclusive growth

businesses. Other trainees (in the mobile phone repair group) experienced inadequate support at the end of the programme, hindering their ability to start businesses. Similarly, beneficiaries of the ‘Transitioning from humanitarian relief to long term development’ project, especially from Nasarawa and Taraba States, noted that after training on good rice cultivation and livestock farming practices, the necessary inputs for their start‑ups promised by UNDP had not been delivered. Generally, beneficiaries considered that UNDP needed to strengthen the monitoring of training activities by partners, to ensure that the training and starter packs delivered were based on the programme design without any alterations.

CPD Outcome 2. By 2022, Nigeria has an inclusive and diversified economic growth driven by science, technology, innovation, investment in infrastructure, and job creation.

Related outputs:

OUTPUT 2.1. National and sub‑national systems and institutions enabled to achieve structural transformation of productive capacities that are sustainable, employment and livelihoods‑intensive. OUTPUT 2.2. Policies and strategies for value addition and entrepreneurship developed to enhance sectoral productivity in agriculture, solid minerals, and allied sectors. OUTPUT 2.3. Options enabled and facilitated for inclusive and sustainable social protection. OUTPUT 2.4. National data collection, measurement, and analytical systems in place to support inclusive planning, SDGs mainstreaming and progress monitoring.

The implemented UNDP inclusive growth programme was very small in comparison to the CPD ambition. This was due to the unavailability of funding, largely because of the reorientation of donor priorities towards addressing the conflict and pandemic response in the country (further discussed in Section 2.5). The Outcome mostly focused on SDG and development planning and youth employment (through skills development for employment and entrepreneurship and job placement). The Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme is a flagship initiative of the Federal Government, in partnership with UNDP, to promote youth employment across the country, but was in early stages at the time of the evaluation. The inclusive growth programme also sought to strengthen social protection systems in Nigeria, which has not fully materialized. Other initiatives included the Accelerator Lab, which aims to promote innovative development solutions (at an early stage with no results yet achieved),66 and the ‘Nigeria 60’ project, a one‑off advocacy initiative to promote Nigerian visibility at regional and global levels.

66 UNDP launched its Accelerator Lab initiative with delays in October 2021 (planned 2019). The Lab seeks to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs by surfacing local solutions to traditional and new development challenges. The preparatory phase was carried out in collaboration with the Impact Hub and the Global Innovation and Technology Center in Singapore, to conduct a landscape mapping of digital and innovation actors in Nigeria. The project is still in its early phase, with no results achieved at the time of the evaluation, except a partnership framework developed between the Lab and the PwC Experience Centre in Lagos (UNDP Progress Report, Quarter 1, 2021).