SMEDAN Empowers 40 Entrepreneurs With Laptops, ICT Skills

The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has trained and empowered 40 entrepreneurs with Information Communication Technology (ICT) and digital skills in Ebonyi. The Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr Olawale Fasanya, said this during the closing ceremony of a three-day training and empowerment programme held in Abakaliki on Friday. The programme was targeted at young entrepreneurs to improve micro small and medium enterprises. Fasanya, who was represented by Mr Chigozie Asochukwu, SMEDAN Coordinator in Ebonyi, said that the importance of ICT in doing business cannot be over-emphasised. He said the empowerment programme, which was in collaboration with Dole International Company Ltd., was aimed at giving business owners e-commerce know-how to increase their contributions to the nation’s GDP. He reiterated the agency’s commitment to business growth, urging the beneficiaries to practice what they had learnt. “This will go a long way in enhancing productivity, customer engagement and give the entrepreneurs a competitive advantage in doing businesses. “It will help in digital knowledge and tools needed to grow businesses online as well as enable efficient communication, data management and analysis. “This is a three-day training and the participants were engaged in three module including Google digital skills, digital market fundamental and business formalisation,” Fasanya said. Mr Njoku Ozoemena, who spoke on behalf of “City Boys Movement”, said the training became necessary to enhance e-commerce in the country. Ozoemena hailed the Federal Government for putting up the programme and urged the trainees to utilise the knowledge. One of the beneficiaries, Kelechi Njoku, lauded SMEDAN for exposing them to modern skills for business and pledged to utilise what she had learnt. The agency later gave laptops to the trainees to enable them promote their businesses. 

FG To Support Local Manufacturers With N75bn

Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the federal government will support local manufacturers with N75 billion by March 2024 to strengthen the manufacturing sector. Shettima said this while declaring open the second National Conference on non-oil export organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in Abuja. Represented by Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser on Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and Investment, Shettima said N75 billion was earmarked to support 100,000 start-ups and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at single digit interest rates. The two-day conference is with the theme, “Building a Sustainable National Economy Through Non-Oil Export.” According to him, the federal government is also committed to providing necessary infrastructure that will support increased export of non-oil commodities. “There can never be a better time to envision a conference of this nature than now; a time to reflect on non-oil export. “Over the years, the nation’s major source had been 80 per cent dependent on oil revenue. “It is clear that as a nation, we can’t afford to work on this uncharted path. “Today, we find ourselves in protracted situation and challenges. All indications point to the fact that we have to prioritise our non-oil export. “And this administration will give every support to boost non-oil export,” he said. While pledging support towards made-in-Nigeria products, he assured of federal government’s commitment to provide infrastructure that would facilitate export trade. “We will prioritise capacity building for MSMEs, we will invest in human capital development. “We need to work diligently to utilise opportunity provided by African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by deepening our existing values and expanding our forex earnings,” he said. Earlier, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, expressed concern that Nigeria operated a mono-economy for long. The minister, however, expressed joy that government’s diversification efforts were beginning to yield positive results. “Nigerian non-oil exports grew by almost 40 per cent in 2022, reaching 4.820 billion dollars. “Semi-processed and manufactured products accounted for almost 37 per cent of these exports, surpassing agriculture’s 30 per cent. “This is a big step in the right direction. We no longer have the luxury of business as usual when it comes to the business of making sure Nigeria succeeds. “We can no longer afford to export raw materials cheaply and import finished products at premium prices. “That train has stopped and will not be starting again. Our focus for exports is locally manufactured value-added products that create both business and employment,” she said. Dr Ezra Yakusak, the Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, said the Council had significantly increased the contribution of the non-oil sector to the Nigerian economy. According to him, for first time, the performance of the non-oil export grew by 39.91 per cent in 2022 to 4.820 billion with about 214 different products exported, ranging from manufactured, semi-processed, solid minerals to raw agricultural products. He said Nigerian products were exported to 122 countries, and appealed to the federal government to address the strange disease afflicting ginger farm in Kaduna State. “I will not do justice to this address if I do not present the challenges being faced by farmers and exporters of ginger in Nigeria. “It is a known fact that Nigeria’s ginger has been adjudged as the best in the world due its unique aroma, pungency and high oleorosin content. “This makes Nigeria one of the largest exporters of ginger in the world.  However, the Council received several complaints of the outbreak of a strange disease ravaging ginger farms in Kaduna State. “So far, about 2,503.9 hectares of farmland have been affected with an estimated loss of over N8 billion,” he said.

Increased Investment In Women Will Improve Nigeria’s GDP -UN

UN Women Regional Director for East Africa, West, and Central Africa, Maxime Houinato, has said that in order to bridge the multi-sectoral gender gaps in Nigeria and improve the standard of living for women and girls, there is need for the federal government to commit specific percent of national budgets and development funds to interventions that address gender disparity in Nigeria. Maxime Houinato is in Nigeria for an executive visit. In a press briefing on Friday at the UN House in Abuja, Houinato said that increased allocation of specific budget lines to address gender disparity in Nigeria would empower more women.    “Women are at the heart of human capital for economic development in any nation – health, education, agriculture, and business. Gender disparity and the suffering of women are having a detrimental impact on the building of that human capital which is at the centre of productivity and development,” Houinato said.   The UN Women regional director met with various stakeholders in Lagos and Abuja including the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. In Lagos, a $25million GBV fund was launched as part of a contribution from Nigeria’s private sector. The fund will serve to fund gender responsive interventions that will curb violence against women and girls and enhance women’s empowerment. He said, “I was rushed to Lagos by my team the moment I landed in Abuja to look at a couple of initiatives. One of them is the establishment by the private sector with the technical support of the UN Women of a $25 million GBV Fund. This is the first time in Africa that the private sector is coming together to take up such issues as GBV and to put hard currency on the table.   “When I met the minister of Budget, he really appreciated that contribution and that the government might consider a tax break for private companies that decide to put money on the table to address gender equality issues that have always been the contribution of the government to the private sector initiative. “I was also thrilled to meet with the Nigeria Exchange group that has decided to start working with UN Women to launch in 2025 the first gender bond in Nigeria with contribution from various investors into gathering resources to address the lack of opportunity that women suffer from. “Those initiatives are interesting because so far, the government has been putting resources for critical elements of gender inequality. Now we believe more and more the private sector is getting interested, the reason being that gender based violence, gender inequality that was placed in the social sector has now moved to the economic sector where we recognize that inequality is crippling the economy.” In her remarks, UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, stated that the financial implication of GBV is enormous and reiterated that if the prevalence of violence against women and girls reduces, family income and earnings will improve and so will the economy of the society at large.

First Bank, ELOY Foundation empower over 1000 women MSMEs

First Bank Nigeria Limited in partnership with the ELOY Awards Foundation has launched the 2023 Edition of the “Eloy Business Shower” designed and dedicated to encouraging, promoting and empowering businesses owned by women across Nigeria. The focus and aim of the awards are to expose women in business to important business skills, networking, and the Eloy Foundation Business Toolkit, which is a collection of business survival information.  This   will   further   be   executed   through   the First Bank’s FirstGem 9 percent Loan Scheme created for female owned MSMEs and the SME Connect Initiative.  The   Business   Shower   by   the   ELOY   Awards   Foundation   was   held   in   five states: Lagos, Delta, Anambra, Kano and Osun States from the 1st of July 2023 to the15th of   July   2023.      According   to   the Founder, ELOY   Awards Foundation, Tewa Onasanya “the ELOY Business Shower was held to support business owners to build sustainable businesses. This year at the second edition of the program, the company hosted 1087 women across the 5 states visited in Nigeria.   It   was   an   avenue   for   these   women   to   gain   access   to   entrepreneurial trainings from experienced businessmen and women, who armed them with tools and information to help them grow their businesses successfully”. The over 2300 women who registered for the program will also be invited to join the ELOY Foundation Network, a network that will continue to give them access to resources to help their businesses grow.  Expressing   her   delight   on   the   recently   concluded   ELOY Foundation Business Shower, Folake   Ani-Mumuney, First Bank’s Group Head, Marketing   &   Corporate Communications, said, “we commend Eloy  Foundation Awards for convening the second edition of its Eloy Business Shower which has impacted over 1000 female business entrepreneurs across the country.” “Female business owners that participated at the event in   the 5 cities –Lagos, Delta, Anambra, Kano and Osun States – are encouraged to take advantage of the teachings from the facilitators as these are essential to boosting their contribution to the economic activities in their host state, geopolitical zones and nation at large, whilst sustaining their businesses,” she concluded. Following the huge success of the event, Phase two of the event will begin soon, where  ELOY   Awards   Foundation   will   enrol   50   women   who   are   small   business owners onto the three month ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Program(SEP), these small business owners will be mentored for a period of three months and they  will  have access to  entrepreneurial trainings  every  month, mentorship, access   to   information   on   affordable   finance   and   10   of   these women considered for a grant to assist them on businesses.