Soludo to Provide Grants to Micro-Businesses in Anambra State as Contained in 2025 Budget
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Governor Charles Soludo has reiterated his administration’s commitment to improving the businesses of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with grants across 326 wads in Anambra State.
This was revealed while presenting the 2025 Budget of N606,991,849,118 to the Anambra State House of Assembly, in Awka, the State Capital, on Tuesday, 19th November 2024, christened “Changing Gears 2.0” with emphasis on acceleration and execution.
With the 2025 budget, Governor Soludo plans to expand the state’s ‘One-Youth-Two-Skills’ programme to accommodate more youths and empower them accordingly, and also establish a ‘One Million Digital Tribe,’ scaling the digital skill training programme through the Solution Innovation District (SID).
The initial 5,000 graduates of the state’s ‘One Youth, Two Skills’ training programme for empowerment purposes, are now entrepreneurs and the Soludo administration has launched the second phase for 8,700 young people across various skills, setting aside N2.5 billion to support their start-up capital. Also, the Solution Innovation District (SID) propelled by the present government has trained 20,000 youths in four major tech skills and recently graduated 1,500 youths in its ‘Code Anambra Programme’.
In the budget, recurrent expenditures account for N139.5 billion (YoY growth of 45.0%), while capital expenditure is N467.5 billion (YoY growth of 48.9%). The Capital Budget constitutes 77% of the total budget size, while recurrent expenditures account for 23% (the same ratios as for the 2024 budget). The budget deficit is estimated at N148.3 billion (24% of the budget compared to 30% in the 2024 budget).
In a release signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, several key sectors are seeing significant increases. The administrative sector saw an increase of 45.5%; the Economic sector 40.1%; the Judiciary sector 51.3%; the social sector 82.7%; Education 101.4%; Health increased by 57.1%; and Infrastructure investment by 38.9%. This was with a 48 percent increase from the 2024 budget of N410,132,225,272.
It was revealed that the needs of poor and vulnerable individuals are also addressed in the budget, as more than 100,000 households will receive ten or more seedlings of agricultural produce, as it did in 2024, for food sufficiency and improved livelihood.
This year, in addition to distributing over one million palm and coconut seedlings to 130,000 households in the second phase of the state’s “Farm-to-Feed” project, the scheme has been expanded to include some staple crops that are at risk of extinction. These include the distribution of 200,000 Ukwa seedlings, 50,000 Akilu seedlings, 50,000 Oji Igbo seedlings, and 40,000 pawpaw seedlings, with plans to distribute 10 million of these economically beneficial trees to communities and households over the next six years.
Soludo’s administration is speedily redefining governance, blending vision and execution to unlock Anambra State’s vast economic and human potential and repositioning it as a land of infinite opportunities for discerning investors, as highlighted in the recent 2024 Anambra State Investment Summit in Awka, themed “Changing Gears, Accelerating Anambra’s Economic Transformation.”
Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State has affirmed that his administration will continue to improve the state’s health system with the construction, modernisation, and equipment of hospitals and healthcare centres for the well-being of the citizens.
With the health sector representing 57 percent of the 2025 budget, Governor Soludo stated that the state will continue to offer free antenatal and delivery services for pregnant women, with over 70,000 women as beneficiaries.
He said the refurbishing of 326 primary health centres is at advanced stages, while a historic trauma Centre is being constructed at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, and the Okpoko General Hospital completed and fully operational, with four other new general hospitals onboard soon.
“As a proactive government, we have initiated the construction of the Coordinated Wholesale Centre at Oba, and this is a crucial step towards eliminating the issues associated with open and unregulated drug markets in the state,” Governor Soludo pointed out.
This was contained in the 2025 budget of N606,991,849,118 presented by Governor Soludo to the Anambra State House of Assembly, in Awka, the State Capital, with a 48 percent increase from the 2024 budget of N410,132,225,272, on Tuesday, 19th November 2024.
With the budget christened “Changing Gears 2.0” and emphasis on acceleration and execution, recurrent expenditures account for N139.5 billion (YoY growth of 45.0%), while capital expenditure is N467.5 billion (YoY growth of 48.9%). The Capital Budget constitutes 77% of the total budget size, while recurrent expenditures account for 23% (the same ratios as for the 2024 budget). The budget deficit is estimated at N148.3 billion (24% of the budget compared to 30% in the 2024 budget).
In a release signed by Governor Soludo’s Chief Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, several key sectors are seeing significant increases: the administrative sector by 45.5%; the Economic sector by 40.1%; the Judiciary sector by 51.3%; the social sector by 82.7%; Education by 101.4%; and Infrastructure investment by 38.9%.
Also, in his assertion, Governor Soludo stated that twenty-two (22) secondary schools will be transformed into smart schools (with many more to follow in the new year), setting a standard for what an ideal school should be, through the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) programme.
The state has extended its free education policy up to Senior Secondary School Year 3 (SS3) and recruited an additional 3,115 teachers, increasing the number to 8,115. It has equipped 60 secondary school laboratories with the required Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) equipment. It has also increased the operational budgets for both primary and secondary schools to ensure they can deliver the quality education promised, among other initiatives.
The initial 5,000 graduates of the state’s ‘One Youth, Two Skills’ training programme for empowerment purposes, are now entrepreneurs, the Soludo administration has launched the second phase for 8,700 young people across various skills, setting aside N2.5 billion to support their start-up capital. Also, the Solution Innovation District (SID) propelled by the present government has trained 20,000 youths in four major tech skills and recently graduated 1,500 youths in its ‘Code Anambra Programme’.
According to Governor Soludo, the 2025 budget will lay the groundwork for a thriving and sustainable future for many generations to come.
