The Delta State Government says it is collaborating with the World Bank and other development partners to hold a fair for beneficiaries of its youth empowerment programmes.

The Chief Job Creation Officer of the state, Prof. Eric Eboh, stated this at a news conference in Asaba on Tuesday, organisers of the exhibition said in a statement in Abuja.

The statement signed Media Consultant for the Fair, Mr Pius Mordi, quoted Eboh as saying that 2,424 young entrepreneurs empowered by the government would exhibit their products and services at the event billed for Dec. 13 and Dec.14.

Eboh, who said that the fair would take place in Asaba, listed collaborating development partners as African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bank of Industry (BoI).

Others, according to him, are Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Bank of Agriculture and the local branches of the Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture.

The job creation officer explained that the 2,424 young men and women successfully set up their own commercial enterprises after benefiting from the state’s youth empowerment programmes.

Eboh said that over 1,687 of them went through the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), while 618 graduated through the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP).

He said that most of them had set up successful ventures in various spheres, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT), aqua-culture, electrical fabrication, building materials and manufacturing.

He added that the fair was built around the young entrepreneurs to promote and uplift them to greater heights through exceptional exposure to new markets, new ideas and new contacts.

“Market unions, cooperative societies, trade groups, artisan associations, commercial banks and microfinance banks will be part of the collaborative effort to open new frontiers and markets for the products of the young entrepreneurs.

“The event will demonstrate the outcome of the STEP and YAGEP programmes of the Ifeanyi Okowa administration since he became governor of the state in 2015,” he said.

The official added that the exhibition would also feature products from persons empowered through other programmes of the state government.

They include vocational skills training centres under the Technical and Vocational Education Board, Delta Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (DEMSMA) and the Technology Incubation Centre. (NAN)

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