Youth entrepreneurs are seeking extension of the National Youth Entrepreneurship Employment Summit (NYEES), which the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) organised to offer youths mentorship in entrepreneurship, while also developing their skills in business support services.
The Programme was organised by the office of the Secretary to the government of the Federation in Abuja as part of build up activities marking May 29 inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office.
Some of the select participants confirmed to BusinessDay that the programme addressed some of the missing links in their business, which they say would give them a competitive edge while urging the government to extend such initiatives to grass root followers.
Imram Sani Dole,a young lawyer who attended the summit lauded the initiative but urged the Federal Government to seek expansion of the project to other parts of the country to address concerns of unemployment.
“It is a very good initiative because it gives youths the opportunities to learn and grow their businesses. This is something that I want the government to expand the opportunities to wider Nigerians in the states not just the federal capital Territory since this is just like a drop of water,” Sani said.
On the lessons learnt from the programme he said, “I had the privilege of opening my eyes on wide array of platforms wherein we can actually get my services and my products to a wider audience with regard to new ways of reaching more Nigerians.”
Another participant at the event Ngozi Amaechi told BusinessDay that the event had deepen her understanding on how to go about her business and reach her target audience.
“I’m a graduate of Psychology from Obafemi Awolowo University. I make a living from Fashion design. It has been a dream I have even while in school. After school and service year, I ventured into fashion design because of the passion. Some of the skills I’ve learnt here would help me expand my skills and give me a competitive edge in business.”
She said, “The great lessons I learnt was on how to run arts, how to work with an APP. How to facilitate your business using Instagram to expand your business network. How to do Key Performance assessment, as well as return on investment on how to grow you business. They also told us that our competitors are high top brands not just anybody but the know name in the business.”
According to her, “The Programme has helped me a lot to develop my skills to drive my business as a fashion designer. The missing link that got addressed in my business was how to make my proposal appealing to the investor which is what I found very supportive to my business, and would help me develop further clientele.”
The key areas of focus for the training include: Entertainment, talent management, digital marketing, handcraft and leather works, make-up and skin care, in addition to event planning.
