The German International Agency (GIZ) in partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), has trained no fewer than 90 SMEDAN staff nationwide on entrepreneurship development.
Ms Sina Uti-Waziri, GIZ Head Component on Access to Market and Innovation, disclosed this on Saturday at the Closing/ Graduation ceremony of the Inspire, Create, Start and Scale (ICSS) Entrepreneurship Development programme in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was done under the GIZ Sustainable Economic Development for Decent Employment (SEDIN) programme to help new and existing entrepreneurs in Nigeria to build, scale and sustain their businesses.
Uti-Waziri said that the ICSS training, also known as the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) modular loop was for training of trainers and facilitators to standardise entrepreneurship education across the country.
“This dynamic methodology, inspired by the SME Start-up Loop approach is designed to help new and existing entrepreneurs in Nigeria build, scale, and sustain their businesses.
“Since its authorisation by SMEDAN in February 2023, the programme has become the flagship entrepreneurship module in Nigeria as efforts to broaden standardise entrepreneurship and to ensure consistent business quality.
“90 members of staff from the SMEDAN have successfully graduated as certified trainers under the ICSS programme which is a significant milestone for Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” she said.
Uti-waziri said that by empowering SMEDAN staff to lead the high-quality programme, Nigeria was taking bold steps toward fostering a new generation of entrepreneurs who would contribute to economic growth and development.
She said that a tripartite partnership had been established between GIZ, SMEDAN, and the Kaduna State Business School (KBS) to institutionalise the ICSS training programme on a national scale.
She also disclosed that the SMEDAN’s Director-General, Mr Charles Odii, is leading the National Steering Committee.
She reiterated GIZ’s commitment to embed the ICSS model into Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, ensuring that the workforce was equipped with the skills necessary to drive sustainable growth and innovation in the SME sector.
The Director-General of SMEDAN, Mr Charles Odii, said that the graduation ceremony marked a pivotal moment in strengthening SMEDAN’s institutional capacity.
“Before this training, we had about three to five trainers, but today we are graduating about 100 staff from across the country that will be providing entrepreneurs with enhanced capacity-building and on-field experience nationwide.
“I want you all to know that I am proud of you for going through this vigorous training and I trust that we would begin to see start-up businesses scale-up and sustainability,” he said.
Mr Ado Bello, SMEDAN Director of Enterprise Development and Promotion, said that all the graduands of the ICSS programme had been instructed to immediately commence the training of at least 30 SMEs in their various states.
“They have already done the selections and the trainees who are now trainers are to take these SMEs through the different stages of business growth.
“If they start, they will take SMEs through the inspire module, if they have started doing something, they will take them through the create module.
“We are limiting the training to the create level just to make sure that the SMEs start and stand on a very strong foot,” he said.
Mrs Regina Bamayi, a SMEDAN trainer and coach, said that the training module was well equipped with effective entrepreneurship education to foster sustainable business growth and innovation across all sector.
“The training module covers areas of decision making for fresh businesses, business policy development, growth strategies, and access to market and access to finance and support for improved infrastructures for business activities,” she said.
Mr Babalola Adeleke, a SMEDAN trainee and facilitator from Delta State, said that the training was apt and timely as many entrepreneurs were in need of capacity development to enhance their businesses.
Adeleke, who commended GIZ and SMEDAN for their partnership, called for the sustenance and expansion of the programme to accommodate more staff across the country.(NAN)
