Fast Tracking Industrialisation Through MSMEs

Ugo Aliogo in this report chronicles the efforts of After School Graduate Programme (AGDC) in partnership with the Edo State government to drive industrialisation through Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

The ever-pressing need to break the ground in fast-tracking industrialisation and economic diversification has led many state governments to tinker with diverse industrial models, with a number of them recording negligible successes.

This trial and error approach has led to the creation of industrial clusters or zones that dot the country, all of which, analysts say, are boggled with numerous challenges ranging from ill-thought out policy measures, decaying infrastructure, little or no incentives for investment or in-fighting among initiators.

Policy somersaults and other man-made errors have made it difficult for these clusters to provide conducive environment for innovation and production to foster the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This is cast against the backdrop of what obtains in other climes, where deliberate government policy has sparked industries in India, the United States and Europe.

In Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki has pooled resources to set up the Edo Production Center, an industrial cluster for over 200 SMEs in Sapele Road axis of Benin City, fitted with 24 hours electricity, as an incentive to boost productivity.

The governor is focused on repositioning the state as an industrial hub in Nigeria by creating the environment to stimulate the smooth operation of manufacturers, expand the space for youths to be engaged in productive activity and promote inclusive development.

In repositioning the state as an industrial hub, the administration of Obaseki is partnering with the private sector partners and one of such is After School Graduate Programme (AGDC) to support the growth of SMEs in the state. In its quest to support the economic diversification drive of the state government, AGDC flagged off the training exercise with a two days enterprise development training which had two classes running concurrently in the morning and afternoon sessions respectively.

The Training

The participants were taught the requisite business skills that are needed to successfully run a business enterprise with emphasis on various business niches around the solar energy value chain.

There was a break-out session, which provided opportunity for the participants to brainstorm and discuss about what they had learnt in the two days training. They had group clusters where they made presentations about the group’s business ideas and their business models. The sessions were led by seasoned professionals and successful entrepreneurs in different works of life to inspire and ignite their passion for enterprise development.

The solar training began immediately after the twodays enterprise with four classes running concurrently from 9:00am to 3:00pm daily. The exercise was very interactive as there was a background check for all participants. Then the intensive, in-class, hands on practical training started.

In the course of the training, AGDC carried out individual assessments and group projects assessment as a measuring tool to identify the participants that will be deployed to the off-takers as solar agents. The basis of the individual assessments was around their punctuality, attendance, in-class activeness, as well as other personal abilities and qualities that were seen displayed during their group presentation. We also made awareness that the exercise was solely sponsored by ACT Foundation and Supported by Edojobs.

Speaking at the conference, the Executive Director, After School Graduate Programme (AGDC), Mrs. Funmi Adeyemi, said the goal of the two days programme was to get 400 young people out of the unemployment market by equipping them with skills that would enable them start their own business or make them employable in the renewable energy space, “which is fast growing but lacking enough skilled manpower to meet the growing demand.”

She also noted that the training was in three phases; the first being enterprise training provided opportunity for participants to be taught the basics of starting and running a business, writing a business plan, basic bookkeeping, customer service, and marketing.

She hinted that the second phase was a classroom teaching of solar panel installation and sales and division into groups to do practical work, while noting that the third phase involved getting their partners D light to show, “and tell them about the different solar products that are available and teach them to be technicians and sales agents.”

According to her, “We went back to Edo because our partnership with the State in a similar intervention was very successful. Apart from the fact the Edo jobs was extremely supportive to us, the state government under Governor Godwin Obaseki also supported the trainees. After the last intervention, some of the trainees came together to set up three companies and came up with very innovative products, the State government encouraged them by giving them contracts to execute.

“So we decided to come back to Edo state again, knowing that with the support of the State, the result of the intervention will be greatly amplified. The idea behind the programme is two phased: Get young people out of the Unemployment market and solve a very crucial problem that is affecting lives in Nigeria-Access to power.

“So a lot of businesses are dying in Nigeria and those alive are suffering because of power issues, lack of it and the cost of it. So access to solar power will greatly reduce the burden on homes and businesses. Like I said earlier, the renewable energy market in Nigeria is growing in leaps and bounds, but there is a huge deficiency in manpower.

“We trained 100 people the last time we were in Edo State, this time we trained 400, so that shows that together with our Sponsor ACT Foundation, we really believe in the Edo project.”

In her remarks, the Managing Director, Edo State Skills Development Agency (Edojobs), Mrs. Ukinebo Dare, said the Edojobs team was responsible for engaging beneficiaries by advertising the opportunity through various channels including radio, online, our physical Edo Job Centres and our Edojobbers’ community.

She hinted that they provide logistics support for the training and facilitators.

Dare further explained that for the training they received 540 applications in total and candidates were interviewed to ensure that they meet the selection criteria provided by AGDC.

She added that the selected participants were between 18 – 35 years old and showed an interest in solar solutions and their potential, noting that a total of 363 beneficiaries were selected and participated during the course of the training programme.

According to her, “Over the years, lack of employability skills and competence has been a key driver of unemployment in Nigeria and Africa at large. AGDC and Edojobs alike are addressing this through the delivery of programs geared towards developing both the employability and entrepreneurial skills of individuals looking to get and retain jobs or start up their own businesses. The training model of AGDC is laudable because of the practical approach and the placement of many of the beneficiaries on internship afterwards. We have a medium term partnership with AGDC. We have been working with AGDC since 2019 with great results. We intend to continue to work with them. The beneficiaries from past programmes we have done with AGDC have proven to be effective because our monitoring and evaluation shows that the beneficiaries actually stick to the skills and start their businesses.”

Driving MSME Growth in Edo

In a bid to support the growth of MSMEs in the state, the administration of Obaseki setup the production centre which would host 200 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) involved in fabrication, furniture making, printing and polythene production and a number of other interested small business owners.

Another key factor in favour of the initiative is that it would provide conducive environment for the development of other business clusters which will serve as incubation centres for new businesses in the state.

The Centre is also expected to bring many small businesses together that will cooperate with each other in an attempt to efficiently share resources such as electricity, information, materials, water, energy, infrastructure, and other resources, and help achieve sustainable development, with the intention of increasing economic gains and improving the quality of lives for Edo people.

The production cluster would feature facilities designed to drastically reduce cost usually incur during production, increase income for small business owners, while at the same time reducing the price of goods and services in local economy, and growing foreign exchange earnings for the state and country.

Dare explained that through the Production Centre initiative, Governor Godwin Obaseki is focus on encouraging the growth of small-scale businesses to spur economic growth and create jobs and wealth for the people, as it only makes more sense to groom local manpower as step to attract big investors, by creating the enabling environment for everyone to work harmoniously with the right policy framework.

She added that the initiative is being set-up by the state government with support from the Bank of Industry (BOI), MEND and Benson Idahosa University.

The Edojobs MD disclosed that governor Obaseki promised to create 200,000 jobs in four years and he setup Edo State Skills Development Agency (Edojobs) to achieve that.

She added that presently they have tracked 208,000 jobs created by his administration, “edojobs works in Edo to create jobs with through Entrepreneurship Development, ICT, Agriculture the Creative industry and other sectors of the economy.

On her part, Adeyemi commended the Edo State government commitment and approach to solving the unemployment issues in the state, noting that the state governor has not only set up Edojobs (an agency of the state government) which has been extremely successful, he has also given the agency the needed support to succeed.

“Setting up an agency is easy, giving them the space and support to succeed is the most critical success factor and that he has done. He also built a purpose built centre for them,” she noted.

Continuing, Adeyemi said: “When I was young, I remembered Edo state used to tops in the common entrance examinations for the Federal Government Colleges, but unfortunately the decline in our educational system and the collapse of our values as a nation has caused most of Young people to use the high intellect negatively. We need to collectively as a Nation work together to get them to be used for productive things that will benefit us.”

The Role of ACT Foundation

As a grant-making organization established in 2016 to support local, national and regional non-profit, and social enterprise organizations working to address challenges and related vulnerabilities across Africa, in May 2022, the organisation awarded AGDC a grant to support the ignite vocational and enterprise training. In 2018, the organisation had supported the AGDC youth summit which impacted 176 people in Edo and Lagos with vocational skills in solar panel installment, photography and beauty.

Speaking on the initiative, the Chief Executive Officer, ACT Foundation, Osayi Alile, said aside from funding, other than funding, foundation also provides opportunities for capacity strengthening through their monthly trainings and expert support.

She stated that as part of efforts to scale the growth and impact of the AGDC activities they regularly monitor their grantee projects to ensure that it is in line with agreed milestones set by the organization, adding that they also leverage on strategic partnerships that ensure greater reach and sustainability with the government, private sectors, public sectors and stakeholder engagement.

According to Alile, “Under the Youth Ignite Fund, beneficiaries with brilliant ideas are granted the opportunity to apply for a loan from the Bank Of Industry (BOI) accredited micro finance banks in Edo to assist the young entrepreneurs in starting their businesses after training. We encourage participants to seize this opportunity and partake in the process completely facilitated and monitored by the AGDC and BOI team who provide support in the application stage and ensure that they get the necessary funds to kick-start their endeavors.

“In the future, ACT Foundation, will conduct impact assessment exercises to evaluate the actual impact of the project and resources provided to the beneficiaries. For this project, we will continue to provide capacity-building support and access to relevant networks and stakeholders that drive action on youth and entrepreneurial development. As a whole, we will continue working to identify the challenges that youths face across the continent, with a focus on partnering with other organizations committed in youth entrepreneurship development initiatives. We support initiatives that give African individuals and families through programs focused on vocational education, skills acquisition and financial literacy and inclusion towards income generation and economic empowerment.”