LAPO Institute says it is committed to promoting entrepreneurship development training to encourage entrepreneurs, alleviate poverty and end unemployment not only in Nigeria but in the entire African continent, in line with the vision of Godwin Ehigiamusoe, its founder.
According to a statement from the Institute, the objectives of the entrepreneurship training are to equip the participants with entrepreneurial skills that will enable them succeed in their workplace; inculcate in the beneficiaries the requisite entrepreneurial mindset to transform the ideas into reality; develop their skills relevant in their workplaces; assist the employees to function more effectively in their present position by exposing them to the latest concepts, information and techniques and developing in them the skills required to make them employers of labour rather than seekers of white collar jobs.
LAPO Institute’s capacity building service is focused on an organization’s abilities to perform specific activities such as training and people development, the statement said, adding that LAPO Institute uses organizational development approach to develop its clients’ human capital so they can better fulfil their defined mission, and believes in human profit’ as an outcome of managing and developing people well.
“We approach training and development from this standpoint and seek to enable learning in our client organizations, in order to foster people who perform well, progress, and stay around long enough to become great at what they do and to help others become so,” the statement said.
It further said that unlike many other training institutes, LAPO Institute does not only train but also provides funding for eligible participants to start their business immediately. After training it applies the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) fund from the CBN for this purpose.
At the moment, LAPO Microfinance Bank has over 1.6 million clients and disburses over N12 billion monthly as loans to their clients. Therefore, with its requisite expertise and experience in entrepreneurship development and microfinance funding strategies, the institute is prepared to train both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
LAPO Institute offers training programmes in core areas of microfinance and enterprise development ranging from marketing, management information system, small and medium-scale enterprise development, leadership and management as well as product development to financial and risk management.
LAPO Institute takes training beyond classrooms and power-point presentations, the statement said, adding that the institute partners with its clients to identify corporate and personnel development needs from a holistic perspective.
“We provide a resource effective framework for learning to occur and inspire the transfer of learning to actual work environments. We believe in all stakeholders taking responsibility in identifying and implementing learning outcomes,” the statement said.
“We offer both on-site and off-site trainings to our esteemed clients at affordable rates. We don’t just train, we also do proper needs assessment, psychometric tests and develop appropriate training scheme to match,” it added.
To enable effective delivery on its training, the institute has entered into partnership with both international and local institutions such as Ugandan Martyrs University, Kampala; Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Federal Government of Nigeria, amongst others.
