SMEDAN empowers 90 youths with business skills, start-up kits in Bayelsa

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) on Thursday concluded a five-day entrepreneurship training for 90 youths in Bayelsa State.

The training is under the National Business Skills Development Initiative (NBSI) by SMEDAN which comprises entrepreneurship and vocational components.

Speaking to the beneficiaries, Mr Olawale Fasanya, Director-General of SMEDAN noted that the programme is being implemented across the 36 states and FCT targets to impact 3,330 entrepreneurs nationwide.

Fasanya, who was represented by Mr Uboboso Abilo, State Manager of SMEDAN in Bayelsa noted that NBSI aims to create a crop of skilled young entrepreneurs who hopefully become employers of labour.,

“The Nano, Micro, and Small and Medium Enterprises (NMSNEs) subsector is a critical subsector in the Nigerian economy. They collectively account for a majority of enterprises in Nigeria and also account for the majority of jobs created in the economy.

“The most recent National MSMEs survey of 2020 revealed that there are 39.6 million MSMEs employing 62.5 million persons, 80.2 per cent of the labour force and contributing 46.31 per cent and 6.21 per cent to national GDP and export respectively.

“It is in a bid to support the MSMEs in a most practical way that the agency developed the NBSI. It is designed entrepreneurship skills, vocational skills and provision of empowerment materials to fill the capacity gap of youths,” Fasanya said.

Also, Mr Uche Lawrence, an Enterprise Officer at SMEDAN, who served as a resource person and Coordinator for Bayelsa NBSDI applauded the enthusiasm and interest of the participants.

He listed the skills area covered in the programme to include, food processing, fashion and laundry.

Miss Blessing Unine, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries commended the federal government for the gesture and urged the beneficiaries to reciprocate the gesture by being dedicated.

The 90 beneficiaries received their start-up equipment from officials of SMEDAN in Bayelsa.