Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) on Tuesday said some 104 young business owners are benefiting from its entrepreneurship training scheme in Bayelsa.

At a capacity building workshop which runs from April 15 to 19, Deputy Director of SMEDAN, Dr Dikko Radda, said there are over 37 million, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) offering over 59 million jobs in Nigeria.

He noted the global recession had adversely affected so many enterprises, the worst being the MSMEs. According to him, the challenge should serve as the catalyst to spur innovative enterprises that will translate into a strong presence not just in our domestic market but also in the international competitive market.

Radda who was represented by Mr Ibrahim Abdumalik, in charge of Enterprises Development and Promotion at SMEDAN said the training aims to curtail the mortality of small businesses. His words: “The MSME is for sure the most viable instrument for diversifying our economy and tapping into the rich but largely dormant resource deposits across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

“The stiff competition in the global markets have tended to further stifle the operations and growth of our domestic MSMEs that can rightly be classified as ‘endangered species’. The fatalistic state of the majority of these enterprises is as a result of either environmental or endogenous constraints.”

“This intervention is essential to reinforce my Agency’s commitment towards ensuring the easing of the harsh operating environment especially for MSMEs,” Radda said.

Also speaking, Ms Chibuzo Osuoha, a Deputy Director at SMEDAN and a resource person at the training, said the programme is currently ongoing in Bayelsa, Ogun, and Kaduna.

She explained that the training was packaged to address the problems identified by SMEDAN leading to the failure of small businesses to reduce the mortality rate of small businesses. “We have taken time to groom young businesses and we notice some deficiencies and lapses, so we created a curriculum that would enhance their management skills,” Osuoha said. She explained that beneficiaries were selected and put through a sensitisation programme before the five-day training on how to manage small businesses profitably.

Osuoha noted that the 104 beneficiaries who run existing businesses were grouped into two and would be assisted with a grant for operational space for one year.

Mr Chris James, one of the beneficiaries, applauded SMEDAN for the capacity building and said the training had opened him to new ideas. “The sessions so far are so interesting, and will help us to remain in business profitably, and the nuggets from the resource persons are very useful. I believe it will take care of business failures and make young businesses to thrive,” he said.

Update news