The federal government has entered into a new partnership with Access Bank to guarantee new access to funds for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria through an SME focused initiative tagged “YouThrive by Access”
Speaking on the partnership, Head, non-financial services, emerging businesses at Access Bank, Chioma Ogwo said participating small businesses would be empowered in different ways, including building their capacity and giving them access to affordable finance, besides providing them with the digital, technical and skill acquisition training to thrive and create wealth.
Also speaking, Senior special assistant to President Bola Tinubu on job creation and MSMEs, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson said the move is part of government resolve to create 380,000 jobs within four years of the administration. “The plan is to create 384,000 jobs in four years.”Adekunle-Johnson said recently at the Inaugural Job Creation and MSME Quarterly Communications Forum in Abuja.
He said the end point is to achieve a single digit loan for MSMEs. “Our aim is to ensure single digit loan becomes the norm for MSMEs”. He disclosed that disbursements will be quick after the loan assessment is processed to help reduce the bottlenecks often faced by MSMEs to secure funding for their businesses.
Ogwo said Access Bank has earmarked N50 billion for the intervention programme. She said participants would access the loans at 15 percent interest rate, while free grants would also be given to deserving SMEs who have distinguished themselves.
“We are looking at empowering 4 million in four years – one million yearly. 700,000 would be given access to finance every year, 300, we will train”, Ogwo said, adding that “We have a business exchange programme for the beneficiaries that would enable the SMEs to go and exchange ideas with their counterparts in other countries.”
This is just as the Minister for Communications, innovation and digital economy, Olatunbosun Tijani urged the authorities to empower technology inclined youths to deploy technology and innovation to boost productivity in the MSMEs sector. He said Nigeria has an advantage to be a net exporter of technology.
Meanwhile, the director-general of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Charles Odii, has disclosed that 3million jobs were lost to flooding in Nigeria in 2023.
He said government has developed a technology to alert of an impending danger of flooding across the states, a development he said would help government to take proactive measures to evict potential victims.
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