Not less than 1,000 entrepreneurs have been trained on how to access the Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) – a loan facility of Nigeria Incentive- Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Bank).
The Oyo State Coordinator of National Directorate of Employment(NDE), Mrs Olayemi Olayinka, made this known on recently, in Ibadan, during the training for some of the entrepreneurs.
Olayinka said the training organised by the Small Scale Enterprise Department of the NDE, would enable participating entrepreneurs to prepare a bankable feasibility reports and business plans which were in tune with extant needs of the people.
He said such participants would be shortlisted for the CBN-NIRSAL /AGSMEIS loan.
She further disclosed “presently, over 250 beneficiaries who has so far uploaded their business’ plan to the NIRSAL website are on the verge of accessing their loans.”
The Director also stated that the NDE recently concluded a 5-day training programme for 50 women; tagged “Covid-19 Mitigation training on spices production”
According to her; COVID -19 is a pandemic that struck the world in every aspect of human endeavor raging from health to all other aspects.
“The viral disease which has claimed millions of lives around the world is yet to get cure and findings have shown that only natural elements can be used to militate against the virus.
“As a result of that, the NDE designed the COVID-19 training in spices production, for the women to enhance positive change in the world.”
Olayemi further stated that the spices production training was part of the renewed efforts of the government geared towards encouraging home-made products, thereby reducing importation of household cooking ingredients.
She expressed optimism that the training would help the beneficiaries to be more productive, self-reliant, “also reduce poverty drastically in the country.”
In her remarks, Mrs Joyce Yarnap -the head of the Women Employment Branch; Small Scale Entreprises of the NDE headquarters, said the training was in line with the Directorate’s mandate of reducing unemployment in the country.
Yarnap who was represented at the occasion by Mrs Catherine Chima
charged the women to make good use of the opportunity.
