Education
A Non-Governmental Organisation, Hope Builders Skill Development, and Acquisition Foundation has trained over 150 unemployed youths, persons with disabilities and others on business development opportunities through entrepreneurship.
The Executive Director of the foundation, Mrs. Folayemisi Adu, said this at the graduation ceremony of the participants, on Monday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organized by GIZ (German Cooperation Deutsche Zusammenarbeit) and implemented by GOPA Worldwide Consultants.
NAN also reports that the participants included: returning migrants, females, unemployed youths, internally displaced persons, and persons with disabilities, among others.
Adu said that the training was aimed at sensitizing the participants on how they could learn more about entrepreneurship as well as how to create and start their own businesses.
“We have two different modules for the training, which are ‘create and start’.
“Create module, which is for basic entrepreneurship, is to sensitize people on how to become entrepreneurs.
“It will help the participants start from wherever they are. They can also generate business ideas and learn more about entrepreneurship.
“Start module, on the other hand, is for those who are already in the business but need to put structures into their businesses,” she said.
Adu, who said that the foundation had started the training on Feb. 15, added that a total of 300 participants would be trained in the two modules over a period of six months.
“We are going to train 180 participants on create module and 120 on start module.
“Next month (June), we are taking the training to Ikorodu axis because we want everybody to be impacted in Lagos.
“We have started seeing the impacts with the previous participants, as they have started applying what they were taught in their businesses,” she said.
Adu added that the foundation would do follow up with the participants after the training to ensure they have been improving their business environment.
“We taught them on how to build business plans in order to have good business structures and book recording for their businesses.
“We will also help them to register their businesses with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and partner with some companies to source for funds or start-up kits for their businesses,” she said.
Also speaking, Mr Ismaeel Lawal, National Senior MSMEs Development Expert, GOPA Worldwide Consultant, said that the training was aimed at creating business opportunities for the participants.
According to him, the training is currently holding in Lagos and Edo.
“We employed the services of partner organizations that are recognized for entrepreneurial development.
“At the moment, we have five partner organizations in Lagos and four in Edo that will be training the participants.
“We have a modular approach to this program, which are: employ, create, start and scale, all targetting the audience.
“We are particularly interested in the youth, women, people living with disabilities, and others,” he said.
One of the participants, Mr Kayode Afolabi, a tye and dye dealer, said that he learned a lot on how to plan business, saying that this would give him an edge over other business owners.
Afolabi, who is also physically challenged, said that he needed to prove to people that his condition would not affect him to start a business.
“Participating in this training is a blessing, as it has broadened my knowledge on how to start my own business,” he said. (NAN)
– MAY 03, 2021 @ 16:49 GMT
Tags: Foundation trains 150 unemployed youths on business opportunities
