The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has trained over 104 young entrepreneurs in Bayelsa State on the techniques of establishing businesses and development of same.

The five-day training currently is held in two centres in Yenagoa with 52 youths at each centre. It is aimed at reducing unemployment rate in the country using SMEDAN’s Young Business Entrepreneurs in Nigeria (YBON) initiative.

Speaking during the flag off  of the training, yesterday in Yenagoa, the two deputy Directors in the agency coordinating the training, Ibrahim Abdulmalik and  Chibujo Osuoha, explained that the programme is aimed at guiding young Nigerian entrepreneurs on how to build their businesses and expand them.

According to them, SMEDAN realized that a lot of youths are unemployed; some even unemployable because they don’t have skills to be employed.

“SMEDAN is a flagship agency created by government to develop entrepreneurship. We know entrepreneurship is the answer to unemployment in Nigeria. So that is why we gathered youths between 20 and 35 years old and trained them on entrepreneurship in order to make them young business owners in Nigeria.

“At the end of the training, we will give what we call ‘Assistance to acquire workspace’ to the trainees, because some of the problems some businesses have include the funds to rent shops. That is why we will assist them with stipends in the phase three of the programme.

“One vital aim of the training is to coach the young ones in developing and managing small and medium businesses in the country, that is why we exposed them to business plans, business research and business set-up etc,” they said.

The Bayelsa State Manager of SMEDAN, Mr Uboboso Abilo, advised the participants to utilize the knowledge they have acquired and manage the little support they will get very well.

The programme is currently holding in three states in Nigeria, which are Bayelsa, Ogun and Kaduna is part of the Federal Governments efforts in reducing unemployment among youths