By Evelyn Okakwu
All is set for Nigeria to benefit from the sum €750 million donated by the Dutch Government to help promote the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
This was disclosed at a press briefing by members of the Netherlands-African Business council during a meeting with members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) recently in Abuja.
According to the President of the association Cliff Ogbede, the visit is an attempt to seek the support of the Nigerian media during the forth coming Nigerian-Netherlands Economic Forumn which is scheduled to take place at Netherlands, next month.
He said the Economic forum would bring together African SME leaders to Netherlands where they are expected to benefit from the above sum, through agreements entered into with the Dutch government; “We are targeting the growth of SMEs because we are aware that the challenges facing SMEs in Africa are enormous. So the forum is expected to bring these SMEs together to enter into agreements with the Dutch government on how we too can benefit from this offer.
We are well aware that other countries have already started benefiting from the offer, and we cannot be left behind”, he added.
Regarding the choice of location for the forum, Ogbede said the Netherlands authority was at the center of the preparation for the program and they chose the country because they want Nigerians to come and deliberate with them on how to boost Africa’s economy.
The President of the NUJ, Mohammed Garba, while responding commended them for the noble gesture, adding that the union would do its best to agitate for media support, since the program was in the interest of our economy.
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