United Bank for Africa and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, have pledged to keep empowering young entrepreneurs through the provision of finance owing to their importance in job creation and poverty reduction.
The commitment to provide more support to entrepreneurs was made on Friday in Abuja at the TEF’s 2019 entrepreneurship forum.
Speaking at the event, a trustee of the foundation, Dr Awele Elumelu, said the need to increase the level of support for small businesses was borne out of the conviction that entrepreneurs held the key to unlocking the potential of the African continent.
She said, “Our young African entrepreneurs must be prioritised if we must develop our continent. They must not only prevail, they must strive to be successful. Those ideas and innovations that came as a dream must be realised as a business that will transform the continent.
“The youths are the backbone upon which the future lies. Therefore, the government and private actors must support them.”
Also speaking on the sidelines of the event, the Group Managing Director, UBA, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, said the bank would continue to increase access to finance for entrepreneurs.w
He said, “We are bringing a long standing operations over the years because we are systematically important in the countries we are operating in.
