GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO PARTNER WITH ABA ARTISANS

The efforts of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu at bringing national and global attention to the power of the Aba artisans has received another boost, as the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) headquartered in Bonn, Germany is set to launch its Nigerian Competitive Project in Aba, Abia State, with the garment and leather industries in Aba as its prime target.

The project, which will last for an initial four years, will be aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of selected value chains in Nigeria will be funded by the European Union and the German Government.

The Director, Access to Finance of GIZ in Nigeria, Yakubu Paiko explained that the project would support those in finished leather and garment sectors to improve their entrepreneurial capacity to produce quality products at the right quantity.

GIZ plans to expose the entrepreneurs to technology that would improve their productivity and quality. In addition, we are also going to link them to global names in the industry to help expand their markets.

In addition, Paiko stated that GIZ would explore various sources of finance that are available to enable the artisans to access loans to enhance their capacities.

In furtherance of this, GIZ would be hosting a roundtable stakeholders meeting where they will discuss regulatory framework that affects the leather and garment industries in Abia and Nigeria, at large.
The plan is for GIZ to reach about 25,000 businesses in Nigeria as a whole with Abia accounting for 5,000 out of that number.

The GIZ roundtable will hold in the month of August and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and other relevant stakeholders are expected to be in attendance.

Onyebuchi Ememanka, Esq.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor.
8th August, 2019.