The Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo has called on members of the Association of Nigeria Women Business Network to take advantage of the various business intervention programmes of the Federal Government to grow their businesses.
The Minister while addressing a delegation of the association in Abuja stated that the intervention programmes includes the SMEs Survival Fund and N50b Export Expansion Facility amongst others.
“The ministry also has various gender-based programmes such as Gender Initiative for Commodity and Export under the Commodity and Export Department of the ministry and Gender Initiative in the Department of Trade, which can assist them to grow their businesses”, he said.
He advised them to come up with their demands as to where the ministry can assist them to enable them take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement AfCFTA for the good of the association.
Coordinator of the association, Mrs Modupe Oyekunle earlier presented the Minister with a list of challenges affecting businesses of their members, pointing out that the government must make conscious effort at addressing the challenges of insecurity in the country.
She complained of epileptic power supply and access to credit facilities noting that though the government was addressing the issue of infrastructure in the country, it should scale up its activities in this regard for the good of all Nigerians.
Oyekunle said “many countries are already preparing to take advantage of the AfCTA and offering their citizens cheap credit facilities,
“Nigerian businessmen and women may not be able to compete with their foreign counterparts because of high interest rates in the country”, she added.
Nneka Ukachukwu
