By Abdul-Kadir Abdullah
The Managing Director of the Edo State Investment Promotion Office (ESIPO), Ease of Doing Business Secretariat, Mr. Amen Odigie, has paid a scheduled visit to the Managing Director of Edo State Skills Development Agency (Edojobs), Honourable Kerimu Shehu Kelly, to strengthen the existing partnership between the two agencies.
During the visit, Mr. Odigie emphasized the importance of continued collaboration with EdoJobs, highlighting its crucial role in supporting businesses through skills, grants, and other incentives.
According to him, “We are happy to continue the long-standing collaboration with your agency. When I came on board, I was made to understand that EdoJobs is one of the key agencies we work with in terms of support, skills, grants and other incentives to businesses in the state. And this is key because, one of key requirements for the state’s ranking in terms of ease of doing business is data of businesses supported by states and that also falls within your agency.”
In response, Honourable Kelly reiterated his commitment to strengthening the partnership. He highlighted the ongoing “Grassroot Development Initiative” (GDI) as a key area of focus.
He noted, “I have already been briefed on our partnership. We will do more things together. We have an ongoing initiative, GDI, which stands for grassroot development initiative. We decided to come up with this initiative because, Edo people will be the real beneficiaries of all our interventions going forward. We will be working with the already existing structures which are the LGAs. The free interest loan for market women which is an initiative of the current administration is meant to address the challenges of the Edo business people. These are some areas we will tailor our collaborations.”
This renewed collaboration between ESIPO and EdoJobs is expected to significantly contribute to the growth and development of the state’s business ecosystem by providing crucial support and resources to Edo-based businesses.
