By Babatunde Ayedoju

The Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) will empower at least 35 million Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) between now and 2025, the Ondo State Director and Coordinator, Prince Tomi Ikuomola, has disclosed.

Ikuomola who made this known in an exclusive interview with The Hope in Akure said the agency has already lifted over a thousand SMEs.

Ikuomola, said that SMEDAN had enjoyed a robust relationship with Ondo State Government, adding that the agency had assisted several small scale businesses to expand their production and even export.

He said SMEDAN helped them to facilitate supports from both international and local bodies like, Tony Elumelu grants, UNIDO, You-Win and a host of others.

While pointing out that Ondo State is agro-based, the SMEDAN boss said that the organisation has several programmes which are also beneficial to farmers.

He stressed that 70 percent of those programmes are channeled towards women and youths empowerment.

His words: “We even have a Women and Youth Desk that Coordinates women and youths activities, and has made a lot of impacts. We have agricultural coopératives based on what farmers are producing. We give 70 percent loans at zero interest, and 30 percent grant. I think it’s the best we have in the country.

“Also, we have ADEP, where we develop agricultural coopératives and give them equipment. We also have processing centres for farmers to process their produce, sometimes shipping them out of the country. We even have some foreign buyers for that.”

He particularly urged the people to always take advantage of these windows of opportunities, utilise them well, saying they have always have ripple effect on the economy and the society at large.

While saying that agriculture is the way out of unemployment and food insecurity presently plaguing the country, Ikuomola stressed that financial aids are available to farmers who are able to meet the requirements, adding that the office is open to help people meet such requirements.

However, he stated that some beneficiaries in the past had mismanaged grants gotten from the agency by diverting them to other unproductive uses.

He said, “I remember a beneficiary who got N10 million to start custard production but he diverted the money to contest for local government chairmanship election. He lost and that was the end of the money.

“Today, he is a commercial motorcyclist. He is homeless now. When you get an opportunity like this, utilise it well; it will have a ripple effect on the society.”

He also said that those who pay back certain loans promptly and use their grants judiciously are entitled to another grant of about N5 million which can be used to expand their businesses.