Nation
NEPC Trains 80 Entrepreneurs On Covid-19 Business Management Strategies
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says it has trained no fewer than 80 women entrepreneurs from the South East on Coronavirus (COVID-19) business management strategies.
The Executive Director of the NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, made the disclosure during a training of women entrepreneurs in Enugu on Monday
The CEO said that the training would provide struggling businesses a leeway in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Awolowo, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Women-in-Export, NEPC, Mrs Esther Ikhoba, said that the training was under the ‘SheTrades Initiative’ of the council.
He described the initiative as a one-stop reference point designed to guide Women-Owned Businesses (WOBs) in their decision making processes during and after the pandemic.
He said the SheTrades Initiative was launched in Nigeria in June 2016 when the council partnered with International Trade Centre (ITC) in a bid to connect 200, 000 Nigerian women entrepreneurs to the global market.
“This initiative is part of the broader United Nations goal of bringing three million women to the global market by 2021.
“It is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to promote gender inclusiveness in export business,” he said.
Awolowo said the scheme was a Commonwealth project that aimed to increase the participation of WOBs in economic activities in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that the pandemic had caused a monumental shift in the global economic and social structure as well as created lots of fluctuations in the business environment.
“At this time of global uncertainty when companies worldwide are struggling to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, WOBs in Nigeria would be advised to make good use of the Business Crisis Management Toolkit.
“This will enable them to assess and manage the impact of the pandemic on their businesses,” he said.
He said that the toolkits would provide the women entrepreneurs access to a resilience and recovery action plan canvas and access to webinars and online trainings.
Awolowo said that through the council’s collaboration with ITC, Nigerian women entrepreneurs had been sponsored to participate at international events.
“We have also conducted trainings and a mapping exercise of 4,000 women entrepreneurs and surveyed 400 women businesses nationwide to gather valuable data on the challenges faced by women-owned enterprises in Nigeria”, Awolowo said.
Earlier, the South-East Regional Coordinator of NEPC, Mr Arnold Jackson, said that the council desired to improve the fortunes of WOBs in order to make them resilient.
Jackson said that COVID-19 had ushered new dynamics in the business environment which had challenged the capacity of entrepreneurs to remain afloat.
In a lecture, Mrs Leticia Onu of Women-in-Export Division, NEPC, said that the workshop became necessary following the recognition of the role of women in sustainable economic growth.
Onu urged the participants to make use of the toolkits during uncertain times in the business environment.
Nation
Council Boss Impeached 48 Hours To LG Polls In Katsina
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
Nation
Association Tasks Fubara On Rumuwoji Market Phase Three
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
Nation
AfDB President Denies 2027 Presidential Ambition
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.
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