The Islamic Development Bank through its iProduce Africa, an agribusiness hub, says it is striving to boost the operations and export capabilities of Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Agri-Entrepreneurs as they seek to take advantage of the government’s Zero-Oil Plan.
This is made known in a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of iProduce Africa, Aisha Waziri-Umar, she says iProduce Africa, backed by Islamic development bank will train Nigerian-owned agribusinesses and SMEs, especially young Agri-Entrepreneurs, on the requisite technical skills to equip them on how to export their produce thereby integrating them into global food value chains.
Adding that the iProduce will also train the SMEs and Agri-Entrepreneurs on how to access finance, including non-interest funding, for their export activities, The statement reels out that Agribusiness exports will present a significant opportunity for job creation to absorb the youth bulge and improve the livelihoods of young people who make up the majority of the population.
The iProduce Africa Agribusiness Hub is an initiative of Inara Foundation, a non-profit organization established to address development challenges in Nigeria, will train at least 1,000 Agri-Entrepreneurs in 2022 and back them with the relevant agribusiness advisory services.
