Nigerian secures $7m grant for agric training centre

A Nigerian, Saidat Shonoiki, has received a $7 million grant from the World Bank to build a sustainable agricultural training centre.

The young lady was a 2014 fellow of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a flagship programme of United States President Barrack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative.

The US ambassador, James Entwistle, said this on Tuesday in Abuja via satellite in Lagos during the pre-departure orientation for 40 Nigerians that will participate in the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship.

The new fellows  would undergo a six-week mentoring in civic leadership, entrepreneurship, public administration and business management at 20 American universities.

Entwistle explained that the White House created  the initiative out of recognition of the critical and increasing role that young Africans are playing in strengthening democratic institutions, spurring economic growth and enhancing peace and security in Africa.

The envoy stated that an agricultural entrepreneur, Lawrence Afere, also raised N5 million for the construction of plantain chips factory after learning the techniques of crowd funding during his fellowship at Northwestern university.

According to him, 45 fellows from Nigeria were among 500 young people selected across Africa to engage in the intensive fellowship at 20 top American universities in 2014.

Entwistle said, “Since their return, the fellows have been using the knowledge and experiences they acquired in the US to scale up their businesses and initiate projects that will have tremendous impact on society.

“For example, Saidat Shonoiki recently received a $7 million grant from the World Bank to build a sustainable agricultural training centre.”

The envoy expressed the hope that upon their return, the new fellows would share what they would learn with members of their communities and leverage the networks they have established to their maximum potential.

Entwistle said the US embassy looks forward to working with the fellows upon their return to expand the influence of the programme and to engage over 20,000 Nigerians within the YALI network.

Nigerian secures $7m grant for agric training centre