Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has launched the state’s first online classified marketplace that will expose entrepreneurs’ products and services to the world.
Governor Akeredolu said the platform is where businesses and entrepreneurs can upload their innovative products and services, buy and sell from one another as well as position their businesses for global brand visibility.
While launching the platform, www.ondomarket.com, he said the world had gone digital even with marketplaces, and the state deemed it fit to encourage business listing for its entrepreneurs where anyone around the world could easily locate businesses in the state
The Chairman of Southern Governors Forum who said the new online market would help angel investors find entrepreneurs easily said his administration would continue to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
Akeredolu who spoke on Friday at the Entrepreneurs’ Summit held at the International Centre for Culture and Events (The DOME), Akure, gave out one thousand free Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Registration Certificates to businesses and presented business grants to ten innovative entrepreneurs.
The Governor said:” Creating an enabling environment aids the process of achieving value in business and it is a major driver in achieving business goals.
“When the corporate environment is bedevilled with an inclement atmosphere, businesses suffer, services are unsatisfactory, investors are discouraged, ideas and innovations die, unemployment rate increases, hunger and insecurity become the order of the day.”
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Akeredolu, while assuring that entrepreneurship will continue to remain a priority in the state, stressed that it has been a major priority of his administration since his first term in office.
“Part of our efforts is the creation of the Ondo State Entrepreneurship Agency (ONDEA) through which this program is being anchored. I am glad to disclose to you that thousands of people seated in this hall are beneficiaries of the agency, which is unarguably the first of such entrepreneurship agencies designed and solely directed to develop, manage and empower entrepreneurs for poverty eradication, job creation, and economic development, in Nigeria today.
“It is important to note that our theme for today’s summit is not just “Creating an Enabling Environment for Entrepreneurs”, but an enabling environment for us all. Our dear country needs to be an enabling environment for all.
“Tonight, ten innovative entrepreneurs will smile home with business grants. They will also embark on an international business trip.
“This tour is designed to foster networking opportunities and also to open up their entrepreneurial minds for global awareness and innovative approach to proffering economic solutions for the advancement of the State and the country at large.”
Speaking at the Special Adviser to the Governor on Entrepreneurship Development and CEO ONDEA, Dr Summy Smart-Francis, lauded Governor Akeredolu for his unwavering commitment to the development of young entrepreneurs in the state.
He hailed the Governor for creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and encouraging young entrepreneurs to be focused and determined, saying Governor Akeredolu has created a lot of business opportunities in the state through ONDEA.
Highlights of the summit were Panel Sessions with Entrepreneurs, Heads of Government Parastatals, and the Deputy Governor.
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