FG set to issue artisans N30,000 to 330,000 financial support – Minister

By Gift Monday Keanyie Abuja

Bank of Industry(BOI), has a secured $1billion corporate loan, under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment supervision to assist Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The Scheme is structured to support atleast 300,000 Sole-business owners with the sum of 30,000 naira, while small business owners with an estimate of 100,000 will receive the sum of 50,000 each.

The Minister’s media personnel, Ifedayo Sayo who conveyed this information at the Quantum Mechanics Limited MSMEs Survival Fund Capacity Building Programme in Abuja, on Monday, stated that the loan scheme is signed to enhance the capacity of Banks in order to support MSMEs across major economic sectors within the country. Also, with international partners as collaborators, the scheme is sure to last long.

In his words, “There is an ongoing discussion with Dunn and Bradstreet to establish an SMEs Ratings Agency of Nigeria (SMERAN) to provide an empirical basis toward analysing the eligibility of SMEs to access credit.”

Speaking on empowering Micro, Small and Medium businesses, the Minister further stated, “The fund comprises the Payroll Support Scheme, which aims at supporting MSMEs in meeting their payroll obligations and safeguard jobs by paying up to N50,000 to a maximum of 10 employees for three months.

“The Artisan and Transport Grant supports self-employed artisans with a one-off payment of N30,000 targeting 333,000 individuals. The General MSMEs Grant will provide 100,000 MSMEs with one-off grants of N50,000 each, and the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme aims at engaging approximately 100,000 businesses nationwide to produce items typically manufactured in their locality, targeting 300,000 beneficiaries.The scheme supports free registration of companies for 250,000 beneficiaries.”

This scheme is estimated to save a minimum of 1.3 million businesses across the country.