The Central Bank of Nigeria said it has supported the real sector of the nation’s economy with N2.10 trillion as project support disbursement to 426 projects.
The Bank said it will continue to support the creation of export ready market, especially those that would add to Nigeria’s economic growth and development, through her interventions in different sectors of the economy.
Under its real sector facility, the central bank released the sum of N66.99 billion to 12 additional projects in manufacturing and agriculture. “Cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) currently stood at N2.10 trillion disbursed to 426 projects across the country,” CBN’s director in charge of corporate communication Osita Nwasinobi said yesterday at the ‘CBN Special Day’ at the ongoing 17th Abuja International Trade Fair.
The theme of this year’s fair, “Creating an Export ready Market through SME Digitalization.” Mr Nwasinobi said the theme of this year’s edition of the event perfectly fits into the bank’s push for the diversification of Nigeria’s productive base, with particular focus on boosting the export of non-oil commodities.
President of the Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar said the theme was chosen to help SMEs operators have better understanding of digitisation process.
He said digitisation offers a range of opportunities for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to improve performance, spur innovation, enhance productivity and compete on a more even footing with larger firms, reflecting: economies of scale; lower oper ation and transaction costs; and reduced information asymmetries.
In the MSME sector, the apex bank supported entrepreneurship development with the sum of N39.26 million under the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES), bringing the total disbursement under the intervention to N332.43 million.
Recently, N20.17 billion was disbursed to 14 projects in healthcare, manufacturing, and services, bringing the cumulative disbursement under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP) to N93.39 billion to 62 projects.
CBN governor Godwin Emefiele had always called on Nigerians to not only support the thriving of the SMEs in the production of commodities in which they have comparative advantage but to produce, add value and export so as to grow Nigeria’s economy, create jobs for our teeming youths and conserve the country’s foreign exchange.
Represented at the event by deputy director Sam Okogbue, Mr Nwasinobi urged SMEs to ensure that their products and services are export-ready and can compete globally.
The CBN request to see the Naira as one of Nigeria’s critical assets; “respect and keep it clean. Do not spray, mutilate, hawk or counterfeit the Naira. On our part, we shall continue to ensure that we make clean notes available for you.”
Nwasinobi said despite the global economic challenges, the Central Bank of Nigeria under the leadership of Emefiele, will continue to ensure that the bank delivers on its core mandate of ensuring monetary and price stability; and that CBN remains a people-focused Central Bank. “We solicit your support and co-operation to return Nigeria to the path of greatness through SMEs as the sector remained the real engine of growth in any economy,” he stated.
Dr Abubakar who was represented by his vice president, finance, Alhaji Usman Balarabe said despite the challenges facing the economy of Nigeria, “the central bank has been of great benefits to the SME sector by creating different financial platforms for them.
“The Central Bank has come to the rescue the nation by embracing developmental financing tools to assist businesses.”
Dr Abubakar however pleased for new intervention from the bank, saying the adoption of chambers of commerce as platform for financial interventions to SMEs. Nigeria has almost 60 chambers of commerce, spread all over the country, whose members he said are in need of project support funds to grow their businesses.
