Odu’a Investment Company Ltd.,(OICL) and the Nigeria Philanthropy Office, has concluded plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU)in providing grants to spur industrialisation in the South-west zone.
Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, Group Chairman, Odua Investment Company Ltd., confirmed this at a meeting between OICL and the Office of the Philanthropy held in Lagos to discuss areas of collaboration and partnership between the two organizations.
He said the project which is designed to cater for between 500 and 1000 persons is geared towards growing businesses, alleviating poverty, promoting agriculture and education.
According to him, the parties would sign the MoU on the partnership tentatively by July 15 to guarantee OICL to take ownership of the project in the South-west zone.
Ashiru said that the amount of the fund for the grant is still under discussion and would be announced when finalised.
The chairman explained that the South-west Governors who are owners of Odu’a Investment Company Limited are involved in the project, while OICL is the flagship company for the initiative.
” The collaboration between the parties would spread across several areas, but particularly, to support businesses of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs), agriculture and education that would lead to industrialisation.
“We have so many companies, banks, that are partners too on the project, but Odu’a is the flagship for South-west zone, while there are other companies for the South-East and the North,” he said.
“MSMEs are the drivers of any economy in the world; “they are about 90 per cent, while the multinationals are just about 10 per cent.
“They create about 90 per cent of jobs across the world, but have a problem with funding; this partnership is geared towards addressing the problem and alleviating poverty,” he said.
According to him, if the Government focuses on such empowerment, it will reduce the level of poverty and create more jobs.
He expressed the willingness of the parties to ensure that everybody that are qualified benefit from the initiative, hence, the ongoing fine tuning of the MoU before it is finally signed.
Ashiru said: “we will ensure that people that are qualified get the fund and the right calibre of people are put at the helms of affairs of the project.
“That is why the Government is not handling it so that people with vested interest would not hijack it.