Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs in Nigeria might soon heave a sigh of relief as the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria has constituted a Presidential Committee to disburse single-digit loan facilities to the MSMEs.
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, disclosed this on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
He noted that this is a deliberate move to facilitate the growth of MSMEs in the country.
The committee is headed by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh, has Ministers of Science and Technology; Women Affairs; Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs as members.
Others include the CEOs of Bank of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bank of Agriculture (BOI), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and the representative of NACCIMA and the organized private sector.
To this end, the National Council on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which is the steering committee will interface with the Central Bank of Nigeria to distribute the loans to beneficiaries.
According to the Vice President, it behoves the federal government, through its agencies and partners, to support growth in the MSME space and facilitate job creation across different sectors for Nigerians.
Reeling out the mandate of the committee, Shettima said the efforts of the administration of President Bola Tinubu in supporting small businesses, evident in important policies and programmes, need to be complemented by stakeholders, especially the private sector.
