Chima Azubuike, Gombe
Gombe state government is currently designing ways to cushion the post COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021 budget.
The state is going to earmark N2.5billion loans for Small and Medium scale enterprises, youths and business women across religious and party affiliations.
Disclosing this on Saturday while declaring open a four-day workshop training for operators of SMEs in the state was the commissioner for finance, Muhammad Magaji.
According to him, “As a government, Governor Inuwa Yahya has ensured that in the 2021 revised budget, there is a N500 million budget for COVID support for Small and Medium enterprises.
“For us to ensure that you all (trainees) benefit from that COVID support, this is the beginning point.
“Aside the N500million, there is also N1 billion support for the youths and another N1 billion for the women enterprises,” he explained.
He noted that the government has been embattled by the likely consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic such that it had no option than to plan ahead ways of containing it as well as rejigging the worsened economy.
He said, “this training ought to be taken so that we can continue to weather the storm and not allow it to impact so negatively on the economy of the state and that of residents.
“This training is specifically to enlighten us and to give us perspective as to the new changes that have come into place because of the pandemic.”
On his part, the facilitator, Gbenga Abimbola said, “Gombe government believes business must go on in spite of the COVID-19 problem hence our engagement to train small and medium enterprises new ways of doing businesses under emergency situation like COVID-19.”
