Uyo chamber seeks grants to support SMEs

The Uyo Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (UYCIMA) has solicited the support of the Akwa Ibom State government in providing grants to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as part of efforts to generate employment in the state.

The chamber said the grants should be used to develop the agriculture sector, particularly, fish and poultry farming, to encourage operators in the sector.

Dan Ukpong Umoh, president of the chamber, said in an interview with BusinessDay in Uyo, the state capital, that efforts to recover loans in the past posed a challenge, adding that giving grants would help to grow economic activities and in wealth creation.

Umoh, however, said that those who should be eligible for the grants should be members of the Organised Private Sector that belong to the chamber.

“We should focus on fish farming, poultry and other agro-allied activities to encourage them to create jobs and stem the growing army of unemployed youths in the state,” he said.

The chamber boss, who lamented the absence of a security scheme for unemployed graduates in the country, suggested a national database for graduates from institutions of higher learning, which according to him would enable the Federal Government plan for their welfare.

According to him, unemployed graduates who are interested in going into entrepreneurship development should be encouraged with special grants and made to undergo training after which government should monitor the grants given them.

Umoh also expressed dismay over the absence of a permanent trade fair complex in the state, saying it had affected the ability of the chamber to successfully organise and host trade fairs.

He commended the state government for the move to establish industries, saying it would help in tackling unemployment and in changing the economic status of the state.

He also expressed satisfaction with the marked improvement in public power supply in the state, saying that without a regular power supply, it would be difficult for entrepreneurship to thrive.