The federal government, led by President Bola Tinubu, claims to have distributed N55.657 billion to manufacturers and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses as part of the N200 billion Presidential Intervention Fund, which supports economic empowerment and job development.
At a town hall meeting on the Presidential Grants & Loans Scheme for MSMEs yesterday, Wale Edun, the minister of finance and the economy’s coordinating minister, made the assertion. According to him, the three main programs serve as the foundation for the intervention funding.
The government is finalizing plans to offer loan facilities to small businesses at single-digit interest rates, according to Tola Adekunle-Johnson, the president’s senior special assistant on job development and MSMEs. According to him, the states, Access, and Wema Banks are among the private sector partners with whom the federal government is collaborating on the program. According to Tola, the program would begin in the third quarter of 2025.
“This government will begin issuing single-digit loans in collaboration with the states starting in the third quarter of next year. It has the commitment of 18 state governors. We will give the MSMEs financial help and an enabling atmosphere. The Bank of Industry is collaborating with us.
According to the finance minister, as of today, 784,394 beneficiaries in 774 local government areas and the Federal Capital Territory had received N39.2 billion from the government’s presidential conditional grant scheme, while 380 MSMEs had received N357 million from the MSME intervention fund. He also revealed that 22 businesses have received N16.1 billion, and another N10 billion is planned for 28 more initiatives. 148 businesses in all have received approval for assistance, distributed throughout every region of the country.
According to a recent SMEDAN-NBS survey, about 27.8% of the major issues MSMEs experience are related to a lack of funding. By immediately addressing the financial deficit, the presidential intervention fund aims to promote economic resilience, job creation, and company expansion.
Creating jobs is one of the administration’s top priorities. through the vice president’s office’s casual employment program. “We are set to create 77,000 jobs within the MSME sector,” stated Edun, who was accompanied by Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the ministry’s permanent secretary.
In the first three months, the project hopes to create over 2,000 jobs per state, giving young Nigerians a route to gainful employment. “The programs are laying a strong foundation for economic stability and inclusive growth throughout Nigeria when combined with the MSME and manufacturing sector funds,” she stated.
The presidential intervention plan, according to Roosevelt Ogbonna, MD/CEO of Access Bank, is the result of a solid collaboration between the public and private sectors. We are a bank, and Access is the leader in the private sector.
“We are dedicated to this initiative. We have a strong commitment to MSMEs. We aspire to be recognized as the MSMEs bank in Nigeria. At yesterday’s gathering in Abuja, Ogbonna declared, “We want to be known as Nigeria’s women’s bank.” According to him, Access Bank had allocated $1 billion in 2022 for lending to MSMEs across 13 industries.
