Ekiti partners Wema bank to train, fund 100,000 youths, women

All is now set for the commencement of a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Growth Programme under which 100,000 Ekiti people, especially the youths and women, will be trained and empowered with funding, BusinessDay has learnt.

Kayode Fasae, Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, who stated this during an engagement with newsmen in Ado -Ekiti, the Ekiti State Capital, said the initiative which is a partnership between Wema Bank PLC and the Ekiti State Government would provide training for selected individuals for all the categories of MSMEs operating in the State.

Fasae, while explaining that the programme is part of the efforts of the present Administration of Governor Abiodun Oyebanji to create employment opportunities and to frontally tackle the rising youth unemployment, noted that the empowerment of the youths and women would go a long way in creating job opportunities and wealth.

He stated that the skill development programme would be deplored via virtual instructor-led training and e-learning platforms and would be followed by in-person training at Ado and other strategic locations.

Read also: Oyebanji pledges enabling business environment as Ekiti begins cassava revolution 

Fasae said the programme would among other things address poor business management skills, poor access to finance, poor access to information, poor access to market, poor access to network and supportive ecosystems as well as sharpen the participant’s skills in digital and financial literacy.

But, Taiwo Olatunbosun, Commissioner for Information, said the initiative was part of efforts to actualize the campaign promises of Governor Biodun Oyebanji to transform Ekiti from a Civil Service State to a land full of finance-yielding businesses.

He pledged that the State Government would vigorously work towards the success of the programme as it would take 100,000 Ekiti people out of poverty and provide them with a reliable source of living, adding that it would be a major milestone for the Oyebanji-led Administration.

Olatunbosun, who commended the youths of the State for not joining the nationwide protests, assured Wema Bank PLC that their investment under the programme would yeald positive results.

Gold Adedayo, Commissioner for Youth development, said the youths in the state have already been mobilized to take part in the programme.

Niyi Owaduge, the regional manager of Wema Bank plc, said that the bank would continue to partner Ekiti State government and support all the initiatives that would better the lives of Ekiti people.

Arthur Nkemeh, Head of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) of the bank, who said that the partnership with the Government was well researched to identify the gaps and the needs of MSMEs, stated that it was about improving the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GPD), and productivity for revenue generation.

He also said that under programme, 100,000 youths would be trained and empowered in different vocations, including transferable digital skills.