The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has granted financial support to about 15 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) associations.
The Director-General of the agency, Dikko Radda, who disclosed this during a three-day capacity building programme for MSMEs in Lagos, said the scheme would be extended to all the zones across the country.
Radda said the training was aimed at building the capacity of trade association to enable them assist in enlightening their members. He disclosed that this would assist the association to also support their members to their business. “ We are training them in all aspects with the support of experts from all the regulatory bodies and financial institutions will train them of their activities and how they can tap on those activities and use it for the growth of their businesses. After the three-day trading, SMEDAN will support them with N500, 000 each to15 businesses,” he said.
National President, Nigeria Association of Women Entrepreneur (NAWE), Mrs. Vera Ndanusa, said that women efforts in eradicating poverty in the country could not be over-emphasized.
Ndanusa urged institutions to partner with NAWE to train women in different skills to save the nation’s future. She commended SMEDAN for the loan, which she said would go a long way in helping the organisation and pleaded with SMEDAN to extend their programmes to different regions of the country.