The United States Consulate, in partnership with the convener of the Manufacturing Incubation Programme, Roberta Edu, on Wednesday in Lagos State graduated 200 young Nigerian entrepreneurs from different parts of the country.

The programme, themed ‘Empowering Youth to Drive Economic Growth,’ was part of the 250th Independence anniversary of the U.S., tagged ‘Freedom 250’, and financed by the U.S. Department of State’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF). It was held at the Women Development Centre, Ogba.

Among the products produced and exhibited at the event by the graduating entrepreneurs were baby food, peanut butter, groundnut oil, palm oil, soybean mixed cereal powder, akara crunch, plantain chips, groundnuts, crayfish, locust beans, tiger nut pap, bean flour, sorghum swallow, among others.

Speaking to journalists about the event, the Acting U.S. Consul General in Lagos, Nigeria, Julie Mackay, said the programme is aimed at helping the graduating entrepreneurs market their products locally and abroad, adding that there are still opportunities available for them to further develop their products.

Mrs Mackay said, “At the U.S. mission, we are focused on increasing two-way trading investment between the U.S. and Nigeria. A programme like this helps young up and coming entrepreneurs get their products ready for markets here in Nigeria and in the U.S. This eight-months project is exactly the kind of alumni of our exchange programme that we wanted to support and one of the ways we bring the two countries closer.”

Asked about the initiatives put in place to ensure that the newly graduated entrepreneurs survive in the market after the programme, Mrs Mackay said, “The people who went through this programme also have access through our network of American spaces, there 30 of them across Nigeria, including here in Ikeja, Maiduguri, Calabar, Sokoto, Enugu. It is free training, internet and other opportunities to continue to develop their products.”

On her part, Mrs Edu said that, aside from exposing their products to the Nigerian and U.S. markets, the programme has helped the graduands become compliant with the requirements of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), as well as encouraged them to adopt professionalism in running their businesses.

Mrs Edu said, “The programme is about getting small scale entrepreneurs, agro entrepreneurs to get compliant to ensure that they have the regulatory requirements, documentation, professionalism that is required by NAFDAC for them to operate in the market. We want them to grow the economy right, to do the right thing and also, to support NAFDAC in their campaign to ensure that all products are operating within the right framework.

“Today, 62 of their products have been uploaded on the NAFDAC portal, some have already gotten their certificates, 32 of them now SON registration, and we’ve also already registered them in the U.S. market, on the Walmart and Amazon platforms, so that they can scale their products outside the Nigerian market.”

An Assistant Director at NAFDAC, Obi Samuel, representing the Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, in his keynote speech urged graduands to stick to what NAFDAC has approved for their products. He warned that those found deceiving consumers by making false claims on their labels or including contents not approved or tested by NAFDAC in their products would face the law.

Several participants shared their struggles before enrolling in the programme, as well as their success stories afterward, before prizes were awarded to the top three graduating entrepreneurs in the programme.