SMEDAN reiterates commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty

Asma'u Halilu

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The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has restated its commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty  in line with the agenda of the present administration.
The Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Radda, disclosed this at a two-day capacity-building workshop for its newly employed staff of the North-west zone in Kaduna.
Radda said the capacity-building was part of the Agency’s activities geared toward impacting knowledge to the new recruits.

 

He explained that the Agency has started implementing a lot of programmes, which are aimed at fulfilling the promise of the present administration to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
“We have impacted positively on a significant number of MSMEs in the country under different programmes which includes the Conditional Grant Scheme that over 10,000 Nigerians benefited from last year.
“Also under the National Business Skills Development Initiatives, over 3,000 people benefited, and the All Up programme which was a direct and indirect job programme, we created over 3,000 jobs,” Radda stressed.

 

According to the DG, the capacity-building of staff, both old and newly employed, was very crucial as it would avail them the knowledge of entrepreneurship and equip them with skills on how to train MSMEs.

 

“The capacity-building will also avail them the knowledge of how to handle, monitor, counsel and guide MSMEs. 

“Without those skills and knowledge one is not fit to be a SMEDAN staff,”   he stressed.

 

He urged the newly employed staff to be dedicated to their duties and focus on the subject matter of MSMEs and also build confidence in themselves to in turn be able to impact on MSMEs for individuals and Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

 

Also speaking, Mr Badamasi Yau-Barau, the Kaduna State Office Manager of SMEDAN, said that the building of capacity for newly employed staff was to equip them with the SMEDAN’s modules, which would invigorate MSMEs in the country.

 

Yau-Barau mentioned that SMEDAN in Kaduna had begun reaching out to Local Government Councils in the State to empower cooperative associations for economic growth and development at the grass roots.

 

He stressed that SMEDAN in Kaduna was doing a lot to harness economic prosperity, disclosing that it was in the process of partnering with Google to train 10,000 MSMEs in the State.

 

The Manager, therefore, advised the new staff to be dedicated and resourceful in their departments for the development of the agency and the Nigerian economy at large.

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