Kaduna – The Centre for Educational Technology and Entrepreneurial Development (CETED), National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Kaduna State Study Centre, on Wednesday trained 500 youths on writing bankable business proposals.
The Vice Chancellor NOUN, Prof. Vincent Tenebe, said at the opening ceremony that writing a business proposal remained key in accessing funds for business.
Tenebe said there were huge funds dedicated for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs) lying in banks and other financial institutions due to inability of the beneficiaries to write good business proposals.
He said funds lying unutilised in banks were evidence that many youths, graduates and other Nigerians did not know how to write good proposals which could be funded.
“There is over N240 billion in Central Bank of Nigeria kept for SMSEs to access but nobody has access to it because entrepreneurs do not have the skills to write a proposal that is bankable.
“There are also other accessible funds in various commercial banks in the country that remained unutilised due to the problem of proposal writing.
“There is, therefore, the need to train our teeming graduates and youths on how to write business proposal that could attract funding by financial institutions,’’ Tenebe said.
The vice chancellor also said that NOUN was positioned to support the Federal Government’s policy on entrepreneurial development, youth empowerment and job creation.
Earlier, the Director of CETED, Prof Grace Jokthan, said the training was conducted to strengthen the nation’s capacity for an entrepreneurial-driven economy.
Also, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, commended NOUN for conducting the training.
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Okojie was represented by the NUC’s Deputy Director, Students Support Services Department, Mrs Margaret Oyedele.
According to him, the training is apt and will go a long way in addressing the challenge of unemployment in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that CETED Skill Acquisition Centre was inaugurated to provide training in various areas.
Some of the areas include wire works, fashion and design, tailoring, photography, hair dressing and bead making. (NAN)