By Sarah NEGEDU
The World Bank Group has scored the Abuja Enterprise Agency, AEA, high for its intervention to small scale businesses in the Federal Capital Territory.
The bank’s Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Pranita Sengupta, while on a visit to the AEA Headquarters over the weekend, expressed satisfaction with the agency for upholding global best practices in all areas of its business operations, as it concerns SMEs and entrepreneurial development in FCT.
Responding to the presentation by the acting Managing Director of the Agency, Mr. Chudi Ugwuada-Ezirigwe, Sengupta said she was particularly impressed that the agency’s engagement focuses more on the development, promotion and growth of start-up businesses in rural communities of Kwali, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Bwari, Kuje and AMAC.
She noted that the bank’s areas of assessment include accurate data gathering and management, capacity building, fair, equitable and transparent disbursement of funds to SMEs, effective and user-friendly ICT Network development, widespread advocacy and campaigns, courteous staff-client’s relationship, amongst others.
Speaking further, the World Bank official explained that the purpose of the visit was to assist the agency to provide solutions on areas of challenges as well as working towards assisting the agency expand the capacity of SMEs in FCT.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Abuja Enterprise Agency, Chudi Ugwuada-Ezirigwe, commended the World Bank for establishing and sustaining strong partnership with the AEA and the FCT Administration over the years.
He explained that as an agency of the FCTA saddled with the task of job creation, wealth creation and poverty reduction, AEA has held tenaciously to the corporate culture establishing the agency, such as integrity, accountability, due process, to mention but a few.
Ezirigwe who used the opportunity to plead with the World Bank to increase its support to the agency to enable the it capture more SMEs in its database, stressed that bringing more SMEs into the Agency’s database will help in the actualization of the renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency Bola Tinubu, which is hinged on reducing poverty drastically.
