Capacity development through business development training, coaching and mentor-ship is currently being mainstreamed by SCADeP in collaboration with Aide-Sierra Leone, a professional business development consultancy. The training which commenced in Freetown on the 12th of January 2023 at the Mango Complex along the Peninsula Road was also formally launched by the SCADeP project Coordinator Mr. Sulaiman Sorie Sesay.
Mr. Sesay while speaking to the selected trainees highlighted the purpose and objective of the SCADeP project which he said is a project under the Ministry of Agriculture established to enhance agricultural commercialization by creating access to finance and creating productive market linkages.
He informed the trainees that the training is a much-needed pivotal process to ensure that businesses in agriculture especially those that operate on the SCADeP selected value chains of rice, cocoa, oil palm, onions and poultry are capacitated beyond functionality to become sustainable enterprising dynamic businesses that will help build and sustain the national economy and provide employment for many. He noted that the modules in the training will certainly help trainees change their perspective on doing business by helping them engage more productively and dynamically in ways that will bring revolutionary changes that will enhance growth.
Mr. Mohamed Sesay, lead trainer and Executive Director of Aide Sierra Leone said the organization has been in the business of building the capacity of diverse businesses in Sierra Leone for several years and assured the trainees that the training comprises mind-blowing and creative approaches towards building or growing sustainable and profitable businesses. He encouraged participants to participate and take every module with keen interest as it will be what will help them carve a new path for their business.
The main objective of the training focuses on how to help grantee participants how to run their firms as effective and compliant businesses and offer them greater opportunities for expansion and growth through access to finance and investor opportunities.
Furthermore, the training seeks to ensure participants have a greater understanding of Capacity Building topics and utilize them practically to grow and streamline their businesses where needed and for them to also access finance, implement ICT systems which can capture HR, Financial, Operational records and track performance of firms, are coached and mentored to identify opportunities; create solutions to challenges; avert challenges when needed; and have improved operational and technical skills and for Sierra Leone Agribusiness Development Fund grantees and Agribusiness Services Matching Grant firms to implement capacity building plans and growth plans.
In the same vein, the training seeks to help SLADF and ASMG firms have skills to access and sustain finance and complete financial reports, receive support to penetrate markets through networks, and mentors, have a more advanced methodology for Capacity Building and Technical Assistance focused more on informal audit assessments; access to finance and sustaining access to finance modules; coaching and mentoring; and institutional training for staff and departments and have access to skilled and certified human capital.
The training is expected to last for six months across the country targeting SCADeP selected value chains to be climaxed with pitch nights where potential investors will be invited to hear the pitches of the trained grantees for potential funding.
