Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has stated that Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, will dominate the fashion industry, if finished leather and garment makers scale their businesses.
Governor Otti, made this observation at the onboarding ceremony of 2000 entrepreneurs in the 2nd phase of the Future Fashion Programme (FFP) organised by Ethnocentrique in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
The Fashion Future Programme is a transformative skills and local economy development initiative aimed at empowering young individuals, including fashion enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, creatives, women, men, and persons with disabilities.
The programme is geared towards equiping participants with the knowledge, skills, resources, and opportunities needed to thrive in today’s dynamic fashion industry.
The Fashion Future Programme also seeks to create a robust pipeline of skilled professionals and thriving fashion micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs), contributing significantly to the economic advancement of local communities and the broader fashion ecosystem.
Represented at the event, by Caleb Ajagba, his Chief of Staff, Governor Otti said that his administration is investing in infrastructure to provide a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
According to the Governor, Aba is a manufacturing hub. There is nothing you cannot find in Aba, Aba is creative, Aba is entrepreneurial and skillful and that is why the FFP platform was set up to further develope the skills of artisans.
“If you get the right knowledge the world will make way for you.
“I heard many of you say that you need funding, but money is not the most important thing in business. What you need is knowledge. With knowledge money will come
“The truth is that if you are given money and you don’t know how to manage money, you’ll continue to spend it until it finishes”, he observed.
The governor also explained that the export lab, recently launched in Aba, was set up to support entrepreneurs to standardise their products for export.
Jeremiah Ubunama, Programme Coordinator, FFP, said that 4000 micro, small and medium entrepreneurs in the Aba fashion cluster will receive tailored support with access to finance, access to markets, business development support and intellectual property (IP) management training.
