By Courage Mbon, Uyo.
Akwa Ibom State government has for the past four years trained over 600 young entrepreneurs from the state through its special Ibom YIELD Incubation Hub.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Marketing and Brand Management, Mr Ime Uwah stated this in Uyo at the Hub, the state government assisted entrepreneurial ecosystem/co-working space during a one day Concept Note workshop for applicants in the 5th Batch of the My Entrepreneurship Goals Programme (MEGP) at weekend.
He said, “MEGP has in the past four years provided entrepreneurial education and networking opportunities for over 600 young Akwa Ibom Entrepreneurs who today are part of the Ibom-YIELD community”.
The Governor’s aide said the one-day workshop was organized to teach the applicants the rudiments of concept note writing, which he said will be what will be considered during the final screening exercise to select participants in the 5th Batch of the MEGP.
He said, “the workshop became imperative after it was noticed that there was a knowledge gap in writing and communicating business plans amongst entrepreneurs who applied for previous batches of the programme”.
Uwah who thanked Governor Emmanuel for always deeming it fit to provide platforms for youth engagements, fully supported and sponsored by government, noted that the workshop will help to give applicants a head-start and aid their success at the pre-qualification screening and tendency test.
He listed the Projects Based Assistance (PBA), monthly Dakkada Networking Experience (DNE) as well as activities of the IbomYIELD hub as some of the MEGP programmes fully sponsored by the Udom administration for the betterment of Akwa Ibom Youths.
Also speaking at the workshop, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Entrepreneurial Development, Mrs Meflyn Anwana, said the State Governor was determined on leaving a legacy of enterprise growth in the state, hence the targeted investments in industrialization.
Accordingly, she urged participants in the workshop to work out innovative ways to take part in the industrialization value chain of the state.
The workshop featured the Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Lucy Ekpenyong, who took participants through the rudiments of Concept Note Writing, amongst other business and entrepreneurship essentials.
Participants at the workshop who interacted with this reporter expressed appreciation to the IbomYIELD hub and the Akwa Ibom State Government, noting that they have benefited immensely from the workshop.
The workshop, which held at Emerald Events Centre had in attendance, hundreds of Akwa Ibom based entrepreneurs who had applied to be part of the 5th batch of the MEGP.
