From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
In a strategic move to solve the poverty nightmare among women, the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) in alliance with Better Life Program for African Rural Women (BLPARW) has begun training 200 women and youths in various skills to make them commercially independent.
Speaking at the kickstart of the programme in Abuja on Monday, the Acting Managing Director, AEA, Mr Shehu Abdulkarim said that the initiative was part of the agency’s mandate to create employment and economic empowerment platforms by providing skills and knowledge development through programmes, seminars and workshops in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said the scheme was created at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and had its first edition in November 2020 where 70 women and youths were equally trained on various skills.
According to Abdulkarim, participants will be trained in areas such as: confectionery, disinfectants, bleach, liquid soap, organic fertilizers and others for a duration of four weeks consecutively. He added that the programme will also build their entrepreneurial skills in areas such as book keeping and saving culture, customer relationship, marketing and sales, amongst other modules to effectively start and manage their businesses.
The AEA boss further disclosed that all participants will be evaluated at the end of the training and those with outstanding performances would be given starterpacks and grants to develop their own businesses.
“This Initiative is part of the Agency’s strategy of achieving its mandate to empower women and youths in the FCT by supporting the growth of Rural Enterprise. The initiative was conceived during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It was designed to build the capacity of rural communities to produce basic sanitary items such as sanitizers, liquid soaps and antiseptics as a means of curbing the virus, while helping the beneficiaries become economically self-reliant.
“There is no gain saying that MSMEs are the growth engine of economies across the world. In Nigeria, there are many stories of Enterprises starting from Micro level employing one person to becoming Medium enterprises employing a hundred people. This dynamism of MSMEs makes it the best vehicle to accelerate economic development of the FCT and Nigeria as a whole.
“This programme will nurture MSMEs in rural communities to achieve their full potential.
” It will interest you to note that this edition of RuSASI is expanded to include AMAC, Kwali, Kuje and Abaji Area Councils. This programme is scheduled to hold consecutively for four weeks in the aforementioned locations.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abdullahi Candido, expressed delight and appreciation towards the agency for the initiative. He said the programme could not have come at a better time than now when the country’s economy was being ravaged by the effect of the pandemic. He added that the dwindling economy and lack of white collar jobs have given rise to insecurity in the country and that the scheme was a good way to curb crime.
Candido appealed to the government to suspend every other developmental project and focus on skills acquisition as, according to him, remains the solution to crime and insecurity.
He further encouraged the agency to come up with other initiatives that are digitally inclined and can enable women and youths to generate income digitally, especially using their mobile devices.
The Chairperson, Better Life Programme for the African (Rural) Woman, Mrs Aisha Babangida, represented by Shem Ayegba reiterated the organization’s commitment to continue working with the agency to empower women and youths through diverse initiatives.