By Merit Ibe
The Enterprise Development Center (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University has collaborated with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Kaduna Business School to strengthen the capacity of Agriculture Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Business Development Services Programmes (BDSP) in Nigeria.
This was made known at the recently held EDC’s AG-SME Bootcamp and Pitch Competition, a three-day, sponsored intensive Enterprise Development Center program for agric SMEs across the country. The event, recently held at the EDC headquarters in Lagos, aimed to strengthen Agric-SMEs, deepen Business Development Service Provider (BDSP) linkages, and improve access to finance for young entrepreneurs.
Addressing business owners and entrepreneurs at the programme, Dr. Nnenna Ugwu, Head of Alumni Relations and Support Services, and a member of the management board of EDC, said: “We want to watch great entrepreneurs who have applied for this AG-SMEs empowerment programme. Those who win will each receive a grant of one million Naira to boost their businesses.
According to her, “they have gone through the Bootcamp, and shared fantastic business ideas, and also showed that incredible people are playing in the agric space with innovative ways of doing business. So, that’s practically why we are here, to select the best from the best.”
Speaking on the partnership with SMEDAN, AGRA, and Kaduna Business School, Dr. Ugwu stated that EDC’s relationship with Kaduna Business School, SMEDAN, and AGRA is cemented on the fact that they are willing to ensure that SMEs in the country take their rightful place as the true engine of growth of the economy.
SMEDAN is a regulatory body; therefore, everything about small businesses in Nigeria from the government’s perspective is on SMEDAN. It is no brainer that we are partnering with the regulator, because EDC has been in this partnership long before I joined the organisation, she added.
“The truth is that if you want to do anything in terms of demonstrating the strength, supporting, and growing small businesses in Nigeria, the first go-to place is EDC. Then, of course, SMEDAN creates an enabling environment for us to thrive because of the government.”
Speaking on the impact of the partnership with other relevant organisations in the SME ecosystem, Dr. Stanley Ibeku, Lead, Research, Monitoring & Evaluation at the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan-Atlantic University, said, “We are here because the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Enterprise Development Centre, (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and Kaduna Business School (KBS), have come together to be able to strengthen the capacity of agric SMEs so that they will be able to access available financing as well as have that capacity to be able to grow and scale their businesses by offering them different technical and managerial competencies, whether it is in investment, operation, management, personal and financial management.”
Revealing the winners of the grant, Dr Ibeku said, “We have eight grant winners, and the cash grant of N1 million each to the eight SMEs,” adding that “We’ll also be providing business development support where we will engage business consultants who will work with these agric SMEs for three months, free of charge, courtesy of the project. These business development consultants will then help them to be able to take their businesses to the next level,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Ms. Damilola Awojobi, CEO of Dainty Foods, who lauded the project, said, “It has been impactful. I would say it’s been eye-opening, those two words particularly, because my eyes were brought to see things again that I had formerly neglected as a business owner, things like, taking particular types of records and being deliberate about monitoring the flows that come into the business and out of the business, your capital investments, your credit investments and all of that, and how to gain access to all of these things in a matter of four days, it was a whole lot. it was enlightening,” she added.
Another beneficiary, Dale Junaid, said, “It has been an amazing experience. Meeting some facilitators who took us on personal finance, access to finance, management, and bookkeeping was enlightening. I have personally learned a couple of things that would improve my business going forward.”
“Therefore, I believe this programme has actually impacted a lot of people, including me, particularly when it comes to pitch preparation, slides, and investment readiness,” he added.
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