• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

SMEDAN boosts youth entrepreneurship in A/Ibom

akwa ibom

The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has presented laptop computers to cluster groups in Akwa Ibom State as part of efforts to boost entrepreneurship and e-commerce under its business youth empowerment scheme.

The youths who were drawn from various cluster groups including rice farmers, digital marketers, office wears and laundry group had earlier been trained by the agency on how to leverage on e-commerce to grow their businesses in the state and beyond.

Speaking during the presentation the computers, Dikko Umar Radda, director-general of the Agency, pledged the commitment of the agency towards youth entrepreneurship to enable them create wealth as entrepreneurs.

Represented by Tony Muobeghare, he said the use of the laptops would make what members of the cluster groups were taught to be practical while helping them to learn new skills easier.

“We  promised that we will empower you with laptops, because of the financial constraints, we are giving the laptop to each group, in future it might be possible to give each member of the cluster group a laptop each,’’ he said.

In her remarks, Lucy Ekpenyong, head of SMEDAN in Akwa Ibom State, thanked the director-general of the agency saying the presentation of the tools was based on the training conducted by the agency last year.

“I want to encourage the beneficiaries to adopt the platform we have offered you as well as the tools to expand your respective markets and make more revenue and create employment in the state,’’ she said.

Represented by Sopuruchi Egbeke, she urged the entrepreneurs to continue to work together and exchange information that would impact their businesses positively adding that SMEDAN will continue to provide capacity upgrade for Small and Medium Enterprises to enable them to operate at the level with their counterparts in other parts of the country.

One of the beneficiaries, Rosemary Itoro Daniel, a rice farmer from Ini local government area of the state said the laptop would help her group to advertise their goods and services beyond the state adding that it would enable them to earn additional income from their rice farming business.