In keeping with the State of Osun’s agenda to boost the grassroot economy, the AJEMART project an initiative supported by the Governor of the State of Osun, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola has continued to link Osun producers of all sizes to bigger markets within and outside the country. This initiative launched nearly a year ago has seen over 10,000 Osun producers and sellers identified, enumerated, verified and aggregated in a marketplace where they have now been able to access markets beyond the State of Osun, and now has launched another ambitious campaign to extend the successes recorded in its previous efforts.
AJEMART, literally translated ‘prosperity market’ is a market linkage service which actively connects farmers, food producers, artisans and medium scale manufacturers to larger markets within and beyond Nigeria using a combination of brick and mortar as well modern methods through the deployment of technology; and because the solutions by removing the inhibitions that dog the link between local producers and markets has continued to deepen prosperity among Osun’s productive base by accelerating the sales of their products and exposing to larger markets in Lagos and beyond by allowing buyers from different part of the world get in touch with the sellers directly without the middleman.
The service which uses an on the ground army of agents as well as a marketplace platform is able to connect buyers to verified sellers of locally farmed, locally made products and artisans who are Osun indigenes and residents. Through this project the economic impact on the sellers and producers has been phenomena. According to the Project Manager Clement Adebayo, whose responsibility is to ensure that all the relevant stakeholders from State of Osun, Sellers and buyers achieved their goals said “one of the key benefits of the initiative is to create and raise employment by assisting local producers and sellers from the State of Osun to increase the demand of their products from outside of the state through adequate market visibility which we believe will lead to economic dependence of the state”.
He went further to say, “in nearly 1 year of operation, the programme has so far enumerated over 6,000 producers, they have been trained on various product development cycle and relevant information about entrepreneurship and presently have over 2,000 producers listed their products and services on the platform through the efforts of employed agents across local governments and LCDA offices in Osun. With the AJEMART platform, users can easily shop for agricultural products (item such as palm oil, fresh potatoes, fruits, etc.), artefacts, building materials, textiles materials, office and home furniture among others; all from the State of Osun to the world.”
In his words, this Ajemart project is in line with the agenda of the Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola administration to position Osun as a business and investment friendly State. The project through its state-wide productivity assessment has been able to map all local governments in the State of Osun according to their product competitiveness, this mapping is arguably an unprecedented feat ever in the state. Through this mapping, over 200 top producers in Osun whose products are candidate for national inspiration for entrepreneurship were identified and notably amongst them are the locally made Clay Water dispenser from ATAMORA, the locally made Engine Oil from MOYE and locally made nails amongst others.
Also speaking on Ajemart initiative, the Center Manager, Technology Incubation Center (TIC), Île-Ife Office, Mrs. Eunice Oladoyin expressed great delight on the project and praised the support given by the governor to see such a laudable project capable of impacting positively numerous small and medium scale businesses in the State of Osun for them to contribute to also contribute positively to the prosperity of the State. She expressed hopes that the project can result in the commercialization of locally made products from the State of Osun where fruitful collaborations in various sectors can begin and where the transfer of technology among entrepreneurs can be facilitated.
One of the enlisted producer on AJEMART, Mr. Kayode Afolabi, the Managing Director of Agrikk Matas who also doubles as President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Osun State Chapter, whose business deals in every aspect of Agric from seedling, cultivation of various crops, fishery, piggery among others said “product exposure, innovations and collaborations are the key for growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, and (he) expects (that) through Ajemart more and more buyers outside the State of Osun in no distant time with connect to sellers”.
Another seller on the Ajemart platform Mrs. Victoria Oluwaseun a verified businesswoman and seller who specializes in production of skincare products especially coconut oil and whose business is located in Obokun, Osun, said she believes the initiative will definitely result in employment generation as a result of increase in demand of her products and the one Community , one Industry participants will be helpful in boosting the economy of the State.
ABOUT AJEMART
Ajemart aggregates sellers and links MSMEs in Osun to the Global market. Ajemart focuses on linking Osun producers to various external markets by adoption of technological and conventional marketing solutions. The Ajemart operational process involves Osun MSME profiling, marketing, training, Logistic facilitation and continuous support to fulfil orders and satisfy potential customer from Lagos and beyond. The service is accessible at www.ajemart.com
