Business
Borno To Establish New Entrepreneurship Centre
The Borno State Gov
ernment will soon establish a Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Maiduguri in a bid to address youth unemployment in the state.
The Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Youth Empowerment, Dr Zainab Gimba, said this on Saturday while briefing newsmen.
Gimba said that the centre would be set up in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“The ministry has entered into a partnership with the CBN to establish a Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Maiduguri, which will serve as zonal headquarters for the North East.”
She explained that the state government had already paid the required N200 million counterpart fund for the take off of the centre.
“The state government has paid the required N200 million counterpart fund and the centre is expected to take off soon.”
Gimba said that the ministry had renovated and supplied equipment to skills acquisition centres to train youths in different skills.
“The ministry distributed numerous poverty alleviation materials to different categories of people in order to help them toward self-sustenance.
“The items include sewing machines, electric power generating sets, milling machines, de-husking machines, spaghetti making machines and water pumps machines for irrigation, among others.”
According to her, the government also distributed 5,000 tricycles to unemployed youths after the ban on the use of motorcycles in Maiduguri.
“The ministry intervened after the ban on motorcycles in Maiduguri by distributing 5, 000 tricycles to youths through a revolving loan scheme.
“The gesture has augmented the vacuum created by the ban on motorcycles.”