Small businesses

Small businesses get N53b to create 1 million jobs

The Bank of Industry yesterday disclosed that it had  disbursed N53 billion to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), thereby creating jobs for about one million Nigerians.

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BOI’s Executive Director, Micro-Enterprise Directorate, Mrs. Toyin Adeniji, made this known during the graduation of the first batch of the participants of the Post-COVID-19 Economic Strategy Pilot Training Programme at the   Local Government Service Commission office, in Abere, Osogbo.

Adeniji said: “We have disbursed over N53 Billion to MSMEs in different sectors, thereby facilitating the creation of an estimated one million direct and indirect jobs.

“BOI provides subsidised loans to MSMEs at a single digit all-inclusive interest rate, which has helped to stimulate economic activities in the MSME sector.

Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola said his administration had adopted a proactive strategy to stimulate the economy of the state which hitherto was adversely affected by COVID-19.

He also presented cash seed loans to 2,000 successful trainees of the Skills Upgrade and Entrepreneurship Training Programme.

Oyetola added that his administration had put in place, a workable strategy and   measures by making skill upgrade training, a priority in its 2020 budget as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the  global economic downturn and prepare for the worst circumstances that might arise.

The governor noted that the programme was designed to generate 15,000 direct and indirect sustainable job opportunities for the people annually.

He said his  administration had set aside ¦ 100 million for disbursement to beneficiaries of the scheme as seed loans of ¦ 100,000 only to each participant.

His words: “As an institution charged with providing security and welfare for citizens, our government, on coming to office two years ago during the world economic downturn adopted a proactive strategy to prepare for the situation and the worst circumstances that might arise.

“Under the Skills Upgrade training programme, we were able to re-focus, re-engineer and expand the scope, knowledge and relevance of artisans and people who lost their jobs to make them relevant under the new normal orchestrated by Covid-19.”

The Commissioner for Commerce, Industries, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Bode Olaonipekun, said the programme was put together by the government as part of efforts to address the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and ameliorate the disruptions to the livelihood of citizens.

He said 2, 000 participants were all trained in 15 different types of skills and empowered with startup loans to support their businesses.

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SMEDAN MSMES

SMEDAN unveils Initiative To Boost MSMEs Access To Global Market

The Federal Government has launched the ‘SMEDAN SELECT’ initiative to strenghten market expansion for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises as well as support the creation of brand names for Made-in-Nigeria products.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s SMEs Get FSD Africa Lifeline For Financial Inclusion

The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Dikko Umaru Radda said that the initiative which was designed to create brands from standard Made-in-Nigeria products in the food, fashion, beauty and goods sectors, would increase access to local, regional and global markets.

According to the DG, promoting the activities of the MSMEs is critical to the growth of the Nigeria economy as they collectively account for a majority of the enterprises in Nigeria and also account for the highest number of jobs created in the economy.

According to the National MSMEs Survey of 2017 conducted by the Agency in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria has a total of 41,543,028 MSMEs, employing 59,647,954 people and contributing 49.7 percent and 7.64 percent to nominal GDP and exports respectively.

He said, “Objectives of implementing SMEDAN SELECT are to increase access to local, regional and global markets for MSMEs; to support market expansion for MSMEs to support the creation of brand names for Made-in-Nigeria products as well as to increase awareness creation on standard Made-in-Nigeria products.”

Speaking at the launch of the SMEDAN SELECT Document,Wale Fasanya, Director, Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Agency, who represented the DG said the products, numbering about 150, have been specially selected across Nigeria.

He said these products would be displayed and marketed on the SMEDAN Website and other social media handles.

Radda noted that MSMEs, if properly harnessed, could trigger an entrepreneurial revolution in industrialization, agriculture and commerce in Nigeria towards creating the platform for job creation, wealth creation, poverty alleviation and food security.

He said, “Globalisation process for MSMEs can be realized through any of a range of cross border activities, including trade, international investment, and participation in strategic alliances, partnerships and networking arrangements.”

Despite the success of MSME strategies in a few countries, he said majority of developing countries have found that the impact of their SME development programs on enterprise performance has been less than satisfactory.

He, however, encouraged Nigerians to patronize all the products profiled as a way of supporting the MSMEs to achieve their collective goal.

SOURCE: THE WHISTLER