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Lagos State Government says that it would continue to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the State, particularly players within the agribusiness space.
Abisola Olusanya, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, stated this on Monday at the flag-off of the 4th edition of the State Ministry of Agriculture Entrepreneurship Development Institute’s Training Programme.
Olusanya was represented by Hakeem Adeniji, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
She explained that the support was necessary because of the immense contributions of SMEs to the State’s GDP as well as the need to see them create more values in the agriculture land space.
“I will like to assure you of the constant support of Mr. Governor to all SMEs in the State, particularly players within agribusiness space. He is aware of your immense contribution to the State’s GDP and would like to see you create more value in agriculture.
“I want to congratulate you for having been selected for this training that would propel you towards your financial empowerment. Specifically, I charge all particularly participants from the Lagos Agricprenuership Programme (LAP) to appreciate the resources Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration is investing in you. There are so many out there craving for the opportunities that have been bestowed upon you on a platter of gold. Please, I will not want you to take all these for granted. Remember, to whom much is given, much is expected,” the Commissioner stated.
She explained that the EDI is a window for pre-qualification of micro, small and medium enterprises towards access to funds dedicated by the Federal Government for small business growth.
According to her, one of such funds is the Agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), which is an initiative of the Bankers’ Committee being managed by the CBN in a bid to support and complement the Federal Government’s efforts at promoting small and medium agri-businesses as a vehicle for sustainable economic development and employment generation.
She added that the State Ministry of Agriculture Entrepreneurship Development Institute is, thus, one of the few accredited EDIs in Nigeria adding that the Institute’s curriculum has been designed to cut across all functional business areas and agricultural value chains, with main focus on guiding participants to navigate through the AGSMEIS loan portal.
She said:“Since inception, four cohorts have been trained, which translate to a total of 139 trained applicants: 61 independent applicants and 78 Lagos Agripreneurship Program (LAP)-sponsored applicants”
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