The federal government has earmarked N60 billion for support of the micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs in the 2016 fiscal plan.
This was disclosed by the Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, Dr Dikko Umaru Radda when the president of African Women Entrepreneurship Programme, AWEP, Mrs. Zainab M Jaji led other executives on an official visit to the agency.
Radda said the fund is domiciled in the office of the Vice President, while promising that SMEDAN would ensure women benefit from it.
Radda who was just recently appointed to the position, reiterated his determination to support Nigerian women in building their capacity, adding, “we shall work towards making them have skills in drafting business plans and other basic knowledge of becoming successful entrepreneurs”.
He assured them that the Agency will address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Nigeria while strategizing to restore order in the MSME sector.
He also indicated the agency’s readiness to work with AWEP and called on them to make their inputs on how to reposition the Agency.
Earlier, the AWEP boss, while congratulating the new SMEDAN boss on his appointment briefed him on the aims, objectives and mission of the Association.
She said the main objective of the Association is to make sure women benefit from the opportunities in the economic space.
She craved the agency’s indulgence to support Nigerian women on entrepreneurship training and capacity building and also made a suggestion on incubator training on how to write business plan.