The Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, has provided training and various types of sewing machines to 25 business clusters in the textile and garment industry in Katsina State.
The machines which were provided under the agency’s Textile and Garment Support Scheme were handed over to them by the Director General of the agency, Dr. Dikko Umar Radda.
He explained that the scheme entails skills acquisition training and business management training for the various clusters in the textile and garment industry that include tailors, fashion designers, cotton ginners, knitters, and thread makers.
The SMEDAN DG noted that the training was aimed at enhancing the capacity of the beneficiaries and improving the quality of their products to enable them compete globally.
“The scheme is aimed at enhancing the capacity of the tailors to produce more qualitative garments that can compete globally.
“The training is divided into two segments, the first is the vocational training aspect where we train them on best practice in tailoring and related vocations as well as how to use these machines while the second aspect focuses on business management.
“We expect the representatives of each cluster to avail these machines to the members of their cluster, the machines were given to them free of charge.
“We must thank President Muhammadu Buhari who has supported the agency to come up with several initiatives that will boost the MSMEs sector thereby creating more jobs for Nigerians”, Dr. Radda said.
He explained that six states have been selected, one in each zone, for the take-off of the scheme, as the other thirty states and the fct will be incorporated in subsequent phases.
Dr. Radda urged the tailors and other business clusters to make judicious use of the machines which were provided to them free.
The machines include stretching and designing machines, bottle hole machines, and industrial sewing machines.
Isma’il Adamu
