The Kogi State Coordination office of the Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) is holding a training workshop on community-based procurement processes, corporate internet banking, and financial management for the beneficiaries of the women and youth empowerment programme.

A statement from the APPEALS State office said the objective of the Workshop is to train beneficiaries on the World Bank’s community procurement guidelines and procedures and the basic principles on how to own and operate corporate internet banking and financial management to facilitate the disbursement of funds for the establishment of their agribusiness.

In his address, the deputy governor and chairman state steering committee of Kogi APPEALS, Chief Edward Onoja underscored the importance of the workshop for the beneficiaries which he said will help them with the knowledge of facilitating their empowerment programme.

He urged the beneficiaries to corporate with the officials of the APPEALS project to deliver on the gains of the empowerment programme.

The deputy governor commended Governor Yahaya Bello for the conducive environment he has provided for the APPEALS project to thrive in the state.

In his remark, the APPEALS National Project Coordinator, Mr Mohammed Sani Jobdi, told the beneficiaries that the workshop was organized to enhance their knowledge on the community-based procurement process, financial management, and electronic payment systems.

He said the resource persons were chosen with all intent to guide the beneficiaries during the workshop.

Earlier in his address, the APPEALS Kogi State Project Coordinator, Dr Sanni Abdullahi Ozomata, noted that over 427 business and investment plans have been approved so far by the World Bank with beneficiaries’ bank accounts credited with the required funds accordingly.

He assured beneficiaries that all hands are on deck to ensure that they were finally empowered. He appreciated the support the national coordinating office has provided in fast-tracking the implementation of the empowerment process.

In separate remarks, the National Project Accountant, Dr Tijani Ajayi, and the National Women and Livelihood Specialist, Madam Heather Akaani noted that the lessons learned from the previous empowerment programme under the Commercial Agriculture Development Programme have served as a base for fine-tuning the WYEP in APPEALS.

SOURCE: TRIBUNE