The National Youth Service Corps has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing the empowerment of Corps Members with business skills and relevant tools through a strengthened partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria.
The Scheme said the collaboration is aimed at equipping serving Corps Members with practical entrepreneurship knowledge that can help them create jobs, grow sustainable businesses and contribute to national economic development after service.
The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, stated this when the Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr. Charles Odii, paid him a courtesy visit at the NYSC headquarters in Abuja.
Nafiu described SMEDAN as a critical stakeholder in the NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme, noting that SAED has trained and empowered thousands of Corps Members to establish thriving businesses across the country.
He said the NYSC continued to pursue policies and programmes that promote national unity, integration and socio-economic development, adding that entrepreneurship remains a key pathway to youth empowerment.
“SMEDAN is a key partner of NYSC because it has helped in birthing Corps businesses that are contributing to Nigeria’s gross domestic product, thereby boosting the national economy,” Nafiu said.
The NYSC DG commended SMEDAN for its impact across several value chains, particularly in entrepreneurship advocacy, financial literacy, skills acquisition training and the facilitation of access to funding.
He added that the Scheme would continue to prioritise the SAED programme while strengthening linkages with relevant funding institutions to ensure Corps entrepreneurs have better access to loans and grants.
Speaking earlier, the Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr. Charles Odii, stressed the need to review the existing Memorandum of Understanding between both agencies to further enhance the empowerment of Corps Members with business skills and relevant tools.
Odii disclosed that SMEDAN currently supports over 39 million small businesses across Nigeria and called for the creation of an NYSC Community Development Service group dedicated to increasing public awareness of its programmes.
“He described SMEDAN as Government’s apex institution for small business development, adding that NYSC is a strategic partner. “From Orientation Camp, Corps Members and retiring officials will be trained,” he said. “SMEDAN ready”
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