The United States government is set to support 18,000 small businesses in Nigeria with an investment of $244m to boost economic development and entrepreneurship across the nation to impact the local business landscape, ushering in a new era of growth and opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States government, through the US Agency for International Development, recently celebrated the achievements of the five-year \u201cFeed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment activity,\u201d <\/em>on October 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to an official statement by the US Agency for International Development, \u201cThe $15.7m agribusiness investment activity assisted more than 18,000 small businesses, also known as micro, small, and medium enterprises, in seven states \u2013 Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Niger.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe initiative mobilised more than N188bn ($244m) in agricultural investment, thereby providing access to finance, and bolstering their businesses.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe MSMEs are now able to expand business operations for increased food production, specifically for aquaculture, cowpea, maize, rice, and soybean.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Agriculture accounted for a substantial part of Nigeria\u2019s economy and 35 per cent of Nigeria\u2019s workforce is employed in the sector, according to the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It said the Nigerian agriculture had economic potential if the high cost of doing business, limited access to finance and investment, and high regulatory barriers could be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n USAID\/Nigeria Economic Growth and Environment Office Director, Michelle Corzine, said, \u201cWe have seen remarkable improvements in the agricultural sector, and it is essential that public and private-sector actors continue to collaborate to ensure that we continue to improve the business environment for Nigeria\u2019s farmers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Punchng<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The United States government is set to support 18,000 small businesses in Nigeria with an investment of $244m to boost<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneurship"],"yoast_head":"\n