The Kwara Government under its social security and economic stimulus package has shortlisted 14,126 fresh applicants for its Kwapreneur 3.0 programme.
The General Manager of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme ( KWASSIP), Mr AbdulQuawiy Olododo, disclosed this during a news conference on Monday in Ilorin.
According to him, the package Gov. AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq introduced the package as a measure to develop the state economy and provide social security valve for teeming youths and women in the state.
He said the programme is into its third phase after two others, namely Kwapreneur 1.0 and Kwapreneur 2.0.
Olododo said that Kwapreneur is aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs in the state to get access to funding and training to kick-start their businesses and also expand existing ones in order to see that the state fully becomes a business-driven economy.
“Kwapreneur 3.0 called for application, which was concluded in September.
“Applicants ranged from varieties of Professions such as Fashion Designing, Small Scale Provision Business, Agriculture, Transportation services and a lot more.
“Not less than 15,708 applications from interested participants were received out of which 1,582 were found to be multiple entries, bringing the actual applications to 14,126, which cut across all the 16 local government areas of the state,” he said.
Giving the demographics of the applicants, Olododo said that 86 per cent of the applicants fall between the age range of 18 and 40 years.
He added that at the same time, the ratio of males to females is 60 per cent to 40 per cent, respectively.
He stated further that a team of professionals is currently screening these applications to select the most qualified for the programme.
“Starting this week, successful applicants will begin to receive calls and messages to inform them to come and defend their business plans before our team of judges to determine the beneficiaries of the Kwapreneur 3.0,” Olododo said.
