The African Union Development Agency NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Ecobank Group are offering Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria and other countries a total of $2 million as working capital.
The partners, in a joint statement on Monday said the ‘100,000 MSMEs’ Initiative which will start from May 27 will also benefit enterprises in Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Togo.
They said the programme was developed to accelerate African economic transformation and cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses.
According to them, the initiative seeks to build the capacity of one million enterprises in Africa through entrepreneurial and business training.
READ ALSO: Nigerian Banks Limit Dollar Deposit To $5,000 Monthly
“AUDA-NEPAD is deeply convinced that Africa’s structural transformation will be driven by youth and women-led businesses and innovations.” said Amine Idriss Adoum AUDA-NEPAD, Director of Programme Delivery & Coordination Directorate.
The process for the initiative began in May 2020 with the MSME Academy component launched in August 2020 in the eight countries.
“We look forward to celebrating the businesses who will successfully go through this training programme and who will meet the criteria for financial support,” said Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Ecobank Group Executive Commercial Banking.
