Interested Nigerian entrepreneurs have up till April 14, 2018 to apply for the 2018 Oxfam-EDC SME development programme.
The programme supports Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with a social or environmental impact strategy to grow their company, create more employment opportunities for youths, and increase their impact.
Specifically, the Oxfam, a multinational private sector development agency, noted that the programme is open to those who manage an SME, ready for growth, want to get tailor-made support to boost their business, tackle challenges and those who desire to diversify their market, increase competitiveness, improve the value chain of their sector, and create opportunities to manage their business in a more sustainable and responsible manner.
The agency said, “We are looking for companies that have a clear social and/or environmental impact strategy. This includes for example creating jobs for youth, using sustainable resource management solutions, developing renewable energy solutions, sustainable sourcing from local suppliers (e.g. farmers), or selling relevant products/services to low-income Nigerian households.
“Any sector is welcome to join, especially agribusiness (the entire value chain), light manufacturing, producers of women’s consumer products, renewable energy and recycling.”
Those eligible to participate are entrepreneur/managers who are 25 to 45 years old, with annual turnover of N40million and above, between 10 and 250 employees and their company should have existed for at least 2 years.
“We believe SMEs have the potential to contribute to sustainable growth through increased employment, higher income and relevant products and services for people living in poverty, particularly small holder farmers, youth and women.
“To help SMEs live up to their potential, we know they need more than capital alone. Hence, Oxfam provides tailor made business development services to support SMEs in Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda and Vietnam.
We select businesses based on an assessment of their plans and financial potential and on the social impact that they expect to deliver for their community. We expect entrepreneurs to contribute to the costs of the business development support to some extent,” Oxfam stated.
The participation fee is N75,000, which is only applicable to those who are selected to participate, the organizers added.