The Federal Government, through the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), has introduced a N1bn special credit line for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperative societies in Lagos State.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said the direct micro-enterprise funding further demonstrated the commitment of the current administration to developing enterprises at the grass roots in order to create jobs, enhance growth and ultimately reduce poverty.
He said the NEDEP provided the necessary platform for the sustainable ongoing funding of micro enterprises, adding that the disbursement of the N1bn loan to MSMEs in Lagos was part of the ongoing MSME funding across the 36 states of the federation and would be in phases.
Aganga spoke in Lagos on Thursday while presenting cheques to the beneficiaries of the first N100m from the special credit line.
The NEDEP is being spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and its three parastatals – the Bank of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the Industrial Training Fund.
Aganga said the ministry, through SMEDAN, had established approximately 3,800 cooperatives in Lagos State, noting that about 2,000 of these would benefit from the special credit facility.
The beneficiaries are drawn from all the local governments in the state and cut across various activities, including manufacturing, agribusiness, retail trade and electrical works, among others. The loans are given at single-digit interest rates to the beneficiaries, who also receive some form of training and skills development.
The minister said the National Council on MSME was working extensively with the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that the fund reached the intended beneficiaries in all the states of the federation.
The ministry is also working with microfinance banks and commercial banks to increase overall access to the fund.
Last week, the Federal Government inaugurated the first Nigerian Business Development Services Network for effective and productive performance of MSMEs in the country.
