The Bayelsa State Government has disclosed plans to strengthen small and medium enterprises through effective and well coordinated cooperative societies to enhance economic development of the state.
The Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made the disclosure when members of the Bayelsa State Bureau for Cooperative Development met him in his office in Government House, Yenagoa on Friday.
Ewhrudjakpo pointed out that effective cooperative societies were the backbone of thriving SMEs and that government was considering distributing soft loans as economic stimulus packages to some enterprising youths and women through strong cooperative societies in the state.
He said, “The success of SMEs and the development of any economy depend largely on the effectiveness of cooperatives. Without strong and effective cooperatives, SMEs will not survive.
“There is a nexus between survival of SMEs and effective cooperative societies because cooperatives are the seeds with which the germination of the economy protrudes into the SMEs and generally jumpstart the economy.”
“This government is determined to work with cooperatives that are effective. Over the years, we have been doing empowerment programmes, for instance, the N200,000 we have been giving to four persons in each ward every month.”
According to him, there were over 700,000 cooperators in the state just as the bureau had a total of N1.5m as its targeted revenue for this year.
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