In furtherance of its capacity development training programmes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has organised a one-day training for over 1,000 small businesses across six states in the North-East and North-West zones of the country.
The MSMEs were spread across Gombe, Maiduguri, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi states.
A statement from the development finance institution indicated that the training focused on optimization and development of skills to enhance the trainees’ capacity for improved operations and management of their businesses.
According to the bank, the main objective of the training programme is to help the owners of the businesses develop their capacity and gain better knowledge of how they could access the DBN funding through the participating financial intermidiadres (PFI).
Speaking on the initiative, the bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, commended the programme’s facilitators for bringing their expertise and experience to bear and expressed the optimism that the training would have a lasting impact on the participants and their businesses.
He explained that the training was in line with the bank’s commitment to strengthening the capacity of MSMEs in the country so that they can continue to contribute more to economic growth and development of the country.
The banker said: “The strategic role of MSMEs as enablers of socio-economic development cannot be over-emphasized. A larger percentage of businesses in Nigeria are in the informal sector dominated by MSMEs. The MSMEs sector is a significant pillar for the Nigerian economic growth; they make up 97 per cent of businesses, generate six million jobs and contribute 50 per cent of national GDP.
“Small businesses are value-creators and they create wealth for individuals. At DBN, we are passionately committed to seeing MSMEs increase their capacity for growth and expansion, and being more sustainable so that together, we can continue to build a stronger economy for the benefits of all Nigerians”, Okpanachi added.
Over the past few years, the development finance institution, through its regular highly-enriching training initiatives and retooling, has improved the knowledge and capacity of hundreds of MSMEs owners thereby positioning them for sustainable growth and expansion.
One of the platforms is the annual DBN Entrepreneurship Training Programme (DBNETP) currently in its 5th Cycle which has benefitted over 2,000 MSMEs owners, who have been trained digitally and physically, leveraging partnerships and the DBN Learning Management System (LMS).
