The Nigerian government says it is focusing on granting single-digit facilities to small businesses across the country to boost its economic growth plan.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Temi Tola Adekunle-Johnson, revealed this at a sensitisation workshop on loan scheme for MSMEs, held in Abuja.
He said the loans are being disbursed in collaboration with the banking sector, led by the Nigerian Bank of Industry.
He said: “As you may have been aware, last year, President Tinubu approved a N200 billion support for small business owners, to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on fuel. Some aspects of that were loans, some were grants. An aspect of the grants went to the manufacturing sector, Nano businesses, and the SMEs respectively.”
He said because of the importance of the scheme, his office is embarked on the sensitization exercise to ensure no part of the country is left behind.
“The Bank of Industry has judiciously implemented that of the grants and they are about to begin that of the loans so, we thought it necessary to sensitize the people on this across the entire country. As we are speaking here today, we have the same programme going on in Ogun, Bauchi, Kaduna, Enugu and Akwa Ibom States.
“In two weeks’ time, we will go on another round of six states, to sensitize them. We are going round the country to let everybody know that this is currently going on,” he added.
The Presidential aide enjoined Nigerians that need support for their businesses or are interested in the scheme, to go to any Bank of Industry near them to apply for the single digit nine percent loan.
“With moratorium, you can get up to one million naira as a small or medium enterprise (SME.) The conditions are very seamless. These are things that you can meet easily and it is open to every SME; as long as your business is registered, you are an SME in this country and you can access this fund,” Mr Adekunle-Johnson assured.
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Partnership with Subnational
The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Dr Olusupo Olusi; represented by an Executive Director of the bank, Mrs Mabel Ndagi, said the bank has done a lot for businesses in Nigeria and will continue to do more in collaboration with the subnational.
“We have done a lot, through collaboration. We have used our State offices nationwide, to deepen the reach and the partnerships we have with the State governments to be able to reach their people,” he said.
The Managing Director assured citizens that the BOI is a Nigerian bank and is poised to meet the needs of the people in line with its mandate.
Speaking on behalf of the private sector, the Managing Director of one of the commercial banks in Nigeria, Mr Roosevelt Ogbonna, stressed the importance of the scheme, which he said must impact the lives of beneficiaries.
He appreciated President Bola Tinubu for his show of passion towards improving the economy through schemes like the one in support of small businesses.
“We need to know that this scheme works, there are many people and MSMEs that have benefited from it and there are many more that will benefit. Most times Nigerians are very sceptical because, in the past, some programmes started but didn’t work as they were intended.
“The beauty of this scheme is that it is coming under very strong partnerships. It is being led by the Presidency, working of course with the bank of industry that for many years has been a beacon of hope for small businesses in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Ogbonna added that the scheme has further shown the focus of the office of the Vice President on improving MSMEs in Nigeria through various SME clinics.
Thousands of MSMEs have so far benefited from the Nigerian government’s grants to them, as the government believes empowering them will further boost the economy, create more jobs and ensure the growth of the country’s GDP.
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