The Lagos State Government in collaboration with Ecobank Nigeria has donated 34 fibreglass boats to cooperative societies made up of young fishermen in the state.
The boats came with outboard engines and other ancillary fishing equipment.
Speaking during the presentation of the boats, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, said that the deployment of the fishing assets would create over 2,000 jobs in the upstream and downstream sub-sector of the state economy.
She also said the fishing assets would produce 4,531 metric tonnes of fish annually.
Olusanya commended Ecobank on the partnership to uplift artisanal fisheries value chain in the state.
According to her, the ministry partners with Ecobank and Old Mutual Assurance to provide banking services, track cash flow in the business and aid fleet expansion for the fishermen.
The commissioner disclosed that the empowerment was under the 2021 Agricultural Value Chain’s Enterprise Activation Programme inaugurated by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in July as part of the government’s commitment to support the fishery value chain.
She said each of the 34 cooperative groups comprising 20 members each would receive a boat and urged them to make judicious use of the equipment.
“Today, we are distributing the fibreglass boat to 34 cooperative groups free of charge, under the 2021 Agricultural Value Chains Enterprise Activation Programme.
“We need to monitor your activities to ensure that you utilise the equipment very well and also expand and increase the number of your fleet with the support of the financial institution.
“The banks are here to plan your business and increase opportunities for the generations to come. We want you all to grow your business and become multinational companies.
“We don’t want people to come from Japan, Netherlands and other foreign countries to talk about fish more than our people from the local fishing communities”, she said.