In continuation of its capacity development training programmes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, management of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) says it recently organised a one-day training for over 1,000 small businesses across six states in the North-East and North-West.
The capacity training programme, conducted in each of Gombe, Maiduguri, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi states had expert facilitators in business management for small and medium scale enterprises, focusing on optimisation and development of skills, aimed at further strengthening the capacity of the beneficiaries to scale up their businesses.
A statement by the bank said the key objective of the training programme across locations, was 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).
Managing Director/Chief Executive of DBN, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, commended the 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.
The training, he assured, was in line with the bank’s unwavering 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.
Okpanachi said: “The strategic role of MSMEs as enablers of socio-economic development cannot be over-emphasised. 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% 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,” he stressed.
DBN, the statement noted further, has enriched the knowledge and capacity of MSMEs owners in the country through its numerous capacity training platforms and regular highly-enriching training initiatives and retooling, thereby positioning them for sustainable growth and expansion.
One of such platforms, he added, is the annual DBN Entrepreneurship Training Programme (DBNETP) currently in its 5th Cycle and has benefitted over 2000 MSMEs across Nigeria who have been trained digitally and physically, leveraging partnerships and the DBN Learning Management System (LMS).