Capacity Building: Niger Govt. trains 3,000 young entrepreneurs on family literacy, business mgt
Niger State government through the office of Special Adviser on Social Investment Programme (SIP), has trained 3,000 young entrepreneurs on financial literacy and business management skills, as part of its capacity building initiative to empower youths in the state.
It will be recalled that the training is being conducted by the Niger state government in partnership with MasterCard Foundation and Enterprise Development Centre.
The online and offline training tagged: ‘Transforming Nigerian Youth Programme (TNY), was launched in March to train 10,000 youths, particularly young women, between the ages of 18 and 35.
Hajiya Hauwa Bako, Special Adviser to Niger state Governor on Social Investment Programme (SIP), said at a 3-day training for the second batch, that the initiative aimed to equip young entrepreneurs with skills grow their businesses.
“The training is being conducted in batches, with 2,000 young entrepreneurs already being trained online and almost 1,000 trained physically in the first batch.
“The aimed is to transform the mindset of these young entrepreneurs, move them from the informal to the formal market and provide them with access to markets,” she said.
She revealed that the 50 first class graduates trained in May as Business Development Service Providers are already working with small business startup and existing businesses, providing them with necessary support.
She commended Gov. Umaru Bago for his human capaital development initiative especially for women and youths to excel in their various endeavours.
Also speaking, Alhaji Shehu Bwari, Coordinator, Entrepreneurship, Ministry for Micro Small and Medium Enterprise, described the training as one of the best initiatives to come to the state.
“For years, we have been skilling up young people in the state, but without tangible results, with this business development entrepreneurship guide, our youths are ready conquers the world,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr Yusuf Christopher, Project Coordinator, Enterprise Development Centre, said the training would help young entrepreneurs build their capabilities on how to own successful and sustainable businesses.
“We will be training them on capacity building, also provide mentorship for three months and help them register their businesses for those yet to do so,” he said.
In their separate remarks, some of the beneficiaries, Fatima Abdullahi and Fatima Hamza, expressed appreciation to the state government for the initiative.
“We have learned how to establish a business, handle it and make it grow, o see myself in the next five years as one of the biggest business owners in the state,” she said.
“The training has been impactful, providing us with new ideas on how to grow our businesses,” they said.
