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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Ekiti State Government said it would partner the federal government and corporate agencies to facilitate opportunities for business owners in the state.
This, the government said was an effort to enhance the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the State.
The government disclosed it had also reconstituted a 22-member Council to address the myriad of challenges confronting MSMEs in Ekiti, with intention to upscale industrial growth and development
The Commissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry, Aare Muyiwa Olumilua, gave the assurance, on Friday, during a one-day sensitisation workshop with the theme: “Making Economy A Private Driven Economy” held at Adetiloye hall in Ado-Ekiti.
At the event, which brought together medium and small scale business owners from across Ekiti, Olumilua added that the constitution of the council was to ensure the effective coordination of the enterprise developmental efforts of the federal and state governments across the private and public sectors.
He said: ” The composition and membership of the council is in line with the directive of the federal government to state givernments to establish State Council on MSMEs with compositions and membership drawn from relevant federal and state government agencies, organised private sectors, financial institutions in the state.
“Let me inform you of the thinking of the state government of making a paradigm shift of the state economy from the public sector driven economy to a private sector driven economy. To actualise this, Mr Governor has approved a 1-day sensitisation workshop on how to make Ekiti State economy a private sector drive.”
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Olumilua, who said private driven economy as the vision of the state government can only be achieved with the support and commitment of the business owners, urged them to promptly repay all loans as and when due.
The programme, according to the commissioner, was designed to achieve many goals which include but not limited to, exposing participants to various investments available in the state, intimate them with possible sources of income, linking current and potential investors with suppliers of various machines and equipments needed for their ventures.
Others are to create awareness of various government policies aimed at assisting entrepreneurs and improving the business environment, to change the mindset of the people from white collar job expectations to entrepreneurship and how to fully harness mineral and agricultural resources to stimulate and actualise the industrialization process of the state.
He said the ministry is open to new ideas on how to encourage the new and old enterprises to attain the desired private sector driven economy.
Representatives of various state and federal governments’ agencies, financial experts spoke to enlighten the participants on many available interventions and loan packages to boost their businesses and how to access them.
These included: the Enterprise Grooming Institute which collaborated with the state government on the programme, Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry, WEMA bank, Bank of Agriculture, ECO Bank, Small and Medium Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Unity Bank, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) among others.
Present at the event are the president, Ekiti State Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Chief Ayodele Adesola, Group Managing Director, Fountain Holdings Limited Oscar Seyi Ayeleso, Special Assistant to the governor on Development/innovation, Mr Ayoola Owolabi.
