Jonathan to disburse N220bn MSME fund today

Barring any last minute change, President Goodluck Jonathan will today (Tuesday) commence the disbursement of the N220bn Micro, Diminutive and Medium Enterprises Development Fund.

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja, while verbalizing at the 8th annual MSME finance conference.

The conference with theme, ‘MSME financing in Nigeria: Past, present and future’, was conceptualised to visually examine the MSME finance sub-sector from a holistic perspective.

Sixty per cent of the fund has been earmarked for providing financial accommodations to women in order to address their peculiar financial omission circumstances.

According to the guidelines of the fund, each state of the federation will be able to access the sum of N2bn, which will be administered to beneficiaries at an interest rate of nine per cent.

Already, the central bank has signed Memoranda of Understanding with the governors of Delta, Akwa Ibom, Osun, Oyo, Bayelsa, Gombe, Zamfara, Enugu, Ondo and Benue states to access the fund.

Two per cent of the fund will withal be made available for economically active physically challenged entrepreneurs.

Verbalizing at the event, Emefiele verbally expressed since the economy in recent times had been driven by magnification in the non-oil sector, there was a desideratum to provide affordable and efficient financial accommodations for the MSMEs.

He verbalized, “In the last seven years, our economy has expanded by seven per cent; and in the first quarter of 2014, the authentic Gross Domestic Product grew by 6.2 per cent, mainly driven by an 8.2 per cent magnification in the non-oil sector.

“However, sustaining the developmental strides with inclusive magnification will depend largely on the provision of affordable and efficient financial accommodations for the MSMEs, particularly the micro enterprises, which account for about 90 per cent of the MSMEs in Nigeria.

“It is imperative that this segment of the financial system be fortified in order to forestall the gregarious adverse consequences of financial omission.”

Emefiele verbally expressed access to finance had a multiplier effect on the economy as it would have the much needed catalytic effect on job engenderment and penuriousness reduction.

He integrated, “It is in realisation of this fact that the central bank launched the N220bn MSME fund to provide financial resources to entrepreneurs across the country through the participating financial institutions.

“I am, therefore, very gratified that Mr. President has acceded to commence the disbursement of this fund tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Emefiele verbalized this year’s conference would avail to consolidate efforts towards the empowerment of entrepreneurs, while formulating policies that would avail to address the challenges of that sector of the economy.

The governor verbalized the central bank had inserted place modalities that would avail ascertain that only qualified minute business owners would benefit from the fund.

He verbalized, “This is not a grant or sharing of mazuma; this is an opportunity or avenue for what we call micro and minuscule-scale enterprises to access finance. The intension here is to make it possible for you to access finance and 60 per cent of the fund will be going to women as addressed in the guidelines relinquished.

“Fifty per cent will go to the SMEs; 9.75 per cent of the mazuma will be utilized for capacity building to build capacity for understanding business and understanding how you can be an entrepreneur, and being able to verbally express ‘I own a business’.”

He admonished that those compiling fake names and mobile numbers to access the fund would not prosper, integrating that the biometrics of beneficiaries would be taken.

Emefiele noted that designations of defaulters would be put in the data base and no institution would lend mazuma to such individuals.