Delta State Government has held a two-day Eco Action Summit/Fair wherein it trained entrepreneurs in the state to have products ready for both the local and export markets.
Participants consisting entrepreneurs from across the 25 local government areas of the state, were from organised settings.
Such settings included the NACCIMA, DACCIMA, Women Chambers of Commerce, NASSI, the Delta State Export Group and those passionate about their work, Shimite Love, Special Adviser to the State Governor (SPADTE) told journalists at the venue of the event in Asaba, Thursday.
“We want to ensure that our entrepreneurs themselves and their products and that people are not confused.
“We want them to know what it means to pitch their products. We want people to be able to say the name of their products, who their target market is, how much it is for retail and wholesale price. When people buy certain quantity how much discount they would get; where they are currently supplying and where they are buying to supply.
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“We have done different trainings at different entrepreneurship workshops and we realize that a lot of people don’t even know what they should be saying in this kind of event.
“We have a partner – African Women Power (AWP) Network and market and the United Kingdom Development Agency as part of sponsors of this programme.
“A lot of the funding of this event comes from outside of the state because they thought the content of what we were doing was sellable. I am excited about this and we are going to see more partnerships like this.
“This is a pitch training of brands, products and services. It prepares you for trade fairs and other summits,” she said.
Also, Mary Olusoga, founder, African Women Power Network, said that the journey which started with Ekiti State would hopefully go round the country.
“We have started up with Ekiti State and we are here in Delta and we are hoping to go across Nigeria,” she said.
According to her, “We are talking of creating opportunities for women so that they can grow their businesses and be self-sustaining – sustaining their families, husbands and children as well.”
She added that her organisation sees a lot of youthful energy in the state.
Remi Ademiju, a Business Plan coach also took the participants on how to write a good business plan.
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Sunny Ekadeyen, commissioner for Planning; Orode Uduaghan, commissioner for Humanitarian Services, Girl-Child Support and Community Development, and Ifeanyi Egwunyenga, chief job and wealth creation officer of the state, were among other government functionaries present at the occasion who encouraged the entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
Ekadeyen informed the participants of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s good intention to support entrepreneurs with N1 billion revolving loan on single digit interest rate, promising that the funds would be disbursed soon.
On the second day of the Summit/Fair, over 90 entrepreneurs who were among the participants, pitched their products before a panel of judges and those who were successful would benefit from the revolving loan even as those whose companies are yet to be registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) would be assisted by the AWP.
Olusoga, AWP founder, in an interview with journalists, at the end of the event on Friday, said it was a way to bring the women from the informal sector into the organised sector.
Chukwuma Obaka, a visually impaired entrepreneur who was lucky to be among the few successful persons that pitched their products, commended the organisers and state government and prayed that God would help Governor Sheriff come back to power in 2027 to continue the good work he is doing on the state.
