The United Nations Development Programme, on Monday, Donated N200m in support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Bayelsa State.
The United Nations Development Programme says that the initiative aims at reducing the impact of today’s socio-economic through the empowerment of small, and medium businesses across various sectors, according to The Punch.
The head of the UNDP team Joyce Oboro who presented a cheque to Governor Douye Diri at Yenagoa’s Government House, said that this sponsorship was in collaboration with the European Union.
“The components of the programme include financial support and capacity building, while the cluster-based approach will be adopted to achieve set objectives,” she said.
Oboro expressed confidence that the project would promote economic growth and enhance the standard of living of Bayelsans and also called on well-meaning groups and individuals to key into the project.
Commenting, Diri said that the partnership between the government and UNDP in developing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises within the State should be encouraged.
In the statement issued by its Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor noted that his administration has been doing a great deal to develop and support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, he said that many Bayelsans had been trained by the government by its prosperity mantra.
The governor declared, “For us as an administration, our mantra has been shared prosperity. Our people have to prosper in all aspects of their lives. So we are very happy to meet development-oriented organisations like yours.
“Let me acknowledge the UNDP for its support to our people during the flood in 2022. We have been partners. Going forward, I believe we will have a robust relationship with you. We are very well prepared to partner and play our role to ensure we attract whatever is due to us.
“In Bayelsa, we started a programme three years ago and gave out grants to encourage small businesses. We paid N200,000 each to 420 SMEs monthly across the 105 wards in the state until the end of our first tenure. Now we want to evaluate the level of success of the scheme.
The governor declared, “For us as an administration, our mantra has been shared prosperity. Our people have to prosper in all aspects of their lives. So we are very happy to meet development-oriented organisations like yours.
“Let me acknowledge the UNDP for its support to our people during the flood in 2022. We have been partners. Going forward, I believe we will have a robust relationship with you. We are very well prepared to partner and play our role to ensure we attract whatever is due to us.
“In Bayelsa, we started a programme three years ago and gave out grants to encourage small businesses. We paid N200,000 each to 420 SMEs monthly across the 105 wards in the state until the end of our first tenure. Now we want to evaluate the level of success of the scheme.
As part of its efforts to support entrepreneurship, the governor said his administration had provided them with start packs and offered grants of N200,000 per month to 420 SMEs in 105 local government areas.
The governor further said “I am happy with the aspects of capacity building, training and mentorship. As a government, we have been doing that and after training, we also give them starter packs. So you are coming to an area we consider a priority.”
