Mercy Corps engages 5, 040 youths with SMEs, shelter in Nigeria
Mercy Corps engages 5, 040 youths with SMEs, shelter in Nigeria
From: Njadvara MUSA, Maiduguri
The Mercy Corps has supported 5, 040 youths and women to establish and own small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and shelters in the Northeast of Nigeria.
The 13-year conflict has killed over 40, 000 people with the destruction of property worth $9.1 billion (N3.42 trillion) in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
The provisions of live-saving food, water, shelter and farm inputs to 1.5 million people affected by insurgency; were disclosed on Wednesday in Mercy Corps’ 2022 half-year Report.
“There was a graduation of 5, 000 youths in the European Union (EU) funded building resilience in complex crisis in the Northeast region,” said the report.
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Besides, the report added: “Participating youths were trained in various vocational skills with business grants to start up their business outfits,” stating that cowpea processing equipment was also handed over to 40 women.
The Country Director of the Corps, Ndubisi Anyanwu also said that the donation of equipment was to enable the women to own their SMEs in eight states; including the federal capital territory, Abuja,
According to the report, the SME project was funded under the USAID Feed the Future Rural Resilience Activity.
Anyanwu noted that the engagements of youths and women are to scale up their business outfits to create more job opportunities in the agricultural and livestock sectors of the economy.
He said access to finance dialogue led the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other financial institutions to pledge their support to raise financial access for SMEs.
On the provision of shelter, the report stated that; “The USAID BHA-supported applied shelter research dissemination in Borno state; led to tested new shelter prototype using locally available resources.
It explained that the adaptation of local building materials and labour is to improve and provide cost-effective temporary and permanent shelters for humanitarian responses in the Northeast.
