Date: 2017-03-14

About 200 local entrepreneurs from Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State have been trained on how to access funds from the Bank of Industry (BoI) in order to boost their businesses.

Speaking at the weekend, Chairman, Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) for the council, Mrs. Bolaji Ibiyeye-Adisa explained that the training was designed to enhance the capacity of the businessmen and women in the opportunities available to them in respect of sourcing for funds to boost their businesses.

She explained that the framework offered through the training will ensure the survival and sustenance of the numerous Small and Medium scale Enterprise (SMEs) within the Local Government Area.

According to the TIC boss, participants would after the training be qualified to obtain loan from BoI at a single digit interest rate, spread over a period of three years. She noted that governments at the local level must begin to explore opportunities within the economic reform agenda of the federal government to benefit the local businesses, saying the BoI funding window was a veritable tool for achieving such goals.

Ibiyeye-Adisa noted that the most important policy thrust of the Kwara State Government and the present administration in Offa Local Government is poverty alleviation with emphasis on the development of SMEs.

According to her, "the pursuit of economic development is an important goal of many developing economies of the world. Developing economies are faced with several problems such as high rate of poverty and unemployment, which has continued to hinder the attainment of socio-economic development.

"Small and Medium scale Enterprises have proven to be a major intervention in resolving the problems of poverty and unemployment in most developing economies. SMEs remain the catalyst for the economic growth and development of the people at the grassroots. However, there are certain constraints hindering the growth of small and medium scale enterprises which includes lack of financial support, poor management, lack of training and experience, poor infrastructure, insufficient profit and low demand for products and services."

While challenging the beneficiaries to make the best of the knowledge acquired at the workshop for the benefit of their businesses and the community at large, the TIC boss commended the state government for providing the enabling environment for small businesses to thrive in the state.