ASBA, Another Legacy Of The Obiano Administration -By IfeanyiChukwu Afuba

In the first week of August 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics broke the news that Anambra State had the lowest unemployment rate among Nigeria’s 36 States. The cheering report, no doubt, is a reflection of the enabling environment for trade, entrepreneurship and industries created by the Willie Obiano government. It is also a testament to the activities of Anambra Small Business Agency in the last six years.

ASBA was created in 2014 as a development financial institution to stimulate the growth of small businesses in the State. The fact of it’s establishment in the very first year of Governor Willie Obiano’s assumption of office says a lot about the clarity of vision behind it as well as the weight it was expected to bear in the task of wealth creation.

ASBA essentially was to assist the birth of new micro, small and medium enterprises (Msme) and nurturing of existing ones to their full potential.

Clement Chukwuka, founding Managing Director of ASBA avers that MSMEs ‘account for 75 percent of the State’s Gross Domestic Product.’

In recognition of the critical role MSMEs play as pillars especially in developing economies, the Anambra State Government through the ASBA has embarked on several empowerment programmes.

‘ASBA has supported 1000 cooperatives to grow their businesses and funded 13, 720 micro enterprises’, says Chukwuka.

The financial assistance comes in the form of single digit loans with ceiling of five hundred thousand naira for micro businesses: five million naira for small enterprises; and fifty million naira in respect of medium scale ventures.

Prospective beneficiaries also receive technical support through expert input on their proposals and skills acquisition opportunities.

Some of the better known products resulting from partnership with ASBA are the famous Anambra Rice and Lagos Lake Rice. Eagle Farm Umuchu, one of the first organisations to heed the State Government’s clarion call for rearing of efi Igbo is another major beneficiary of ASBA’s facility.

The Anambra State catalyst for entrepreneurship has also sponsored the development of business clusters in the State.

The 1000 space shoe makers market at Nkwelle Ezunaka is thriving. Perhaps, the high point of ASBA’s impact here is giving the community the sense of self esteem to label their shoes Made in Anambra. It’s 800 strong manufacturers made such impression on Vice President Yomi Osibanjo in 2019 that the federal government is in the process of donating modern shoe making equipment to them.

Coming up in the same area is a textile market also being sponsored by ASBA. The facility is expected to give vent to the energy of dress designers and others connected with the fashion industry.

Three farming clusters, with focus on fish and rice production are underway in the three senatorial zones of the State. According to the chief executive of ASBA Clement Chukwuka, the centres are at Ndikelionwu for Anambra South, Adazi Nnukwu for the Central district and Ifite Ogwari for Anambra North. Each of the 181 communities in the State are to shortlist 7 candidates as pioneer trainees in this venture.

Aside funding by the State Government, ASBA has obtained facilities from the CBN and Bank of Industry to support its activities. The Obiano government has quietly refunded to the CBN the sum of N2.2b being the value of bad loans taken by the immediate past administration for ASBA to qualify for continued facilities.

Given the scope and intensity of the role ASBA is playing in the basic segment of the economy, it’s little surprise that Anambra State won the most supportive state in MSMEs award in 2019.

In the light of the far reaching role ASBA is playing in the socioeconomic life of Ndi Anambra, many are hopeful that the agency will long outlive the Willie Obiano government. The optimism would not be misplaced given the enduring experience that strong institutions often graduate into legacies.

With competent and committed human resources driving it, Governor Obiano looks set to bequeath Anambra State another legacy in the mould of the educational, infrastructural and development landmarks of his administration.