The Federal government claimed that small and micro enterprises will be disbursed within 14 days.
According to the PUNCH, the proposed alternative will lower the per centage of companies that fail while awaiting loan approvals.
This was revealed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, during the inaugural MSME Quarterly Communications Forum and Job Creation event on Friday in Abuja.
The goal, according to Adekunle-Johnson, is to make single-digit loans the standard for small businesses and to get a single-digit loan for MSMEs.
“We are working towards the goal of ensuring SMEs have smooth and simple access to funding. We want small and medium-sized enterprises to be able to request for a loan and have it granted in no more than 14 days, not six months, as some of these firms have the potential to fail within that time.
“Once the loan evaluation has been completed, the payments will be made quickly. That would assist us in lessening the backlog of MSMEs that are desperately seeking for finance but lack the necessary collateral to secure loans.
“The goal is to provide MSMEs with a single-digit loan. Our goal is to make sure MSMEs typically receive loans in the single digits.”
The Federal Government’s “YouThrive” by Access job creation project would help five million Nigerians acquire skills through a collaboration with Access Bank valued at N50 billion.
Through capacity building, access to cheap financing, and training in digital, technical, and skill acquisition, the project aims to empower MSMEs in a variety of ways.
Speaking about the program, Access Bank’s Head of Non-Financial Services, Chioma Ogwo, stated that “in addition to receiving the digital, technical, and skill-acquisition training necessary for them to prosper and generate wealth, participating small businesses would also be empowered in other ways, such as by increasing their capacity and granting them access to reasonably priced financing.
“We’re providing them with reasonable loans at a rate of 15 per cent as well as free grants to worthy SMEs that have excelled. The recipients of our business exchange program will be able to travel and share ideas with their international peers.
“In four years, we hope to empower four million people, or one million each year. Each year, 700,000 would be made available for financing. Additionally, N50 billion has been set aside for this intervention, and it would be evaluated in a year,” the speaker stated.
In the meanwhile, 3 million jobs in Nigeria were lost to floods in 2023, according to Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Charles Odii.
He withheld information on precise numbers related to the flooding that severely damaged homes and life.
He said that “the government has created technology that can warn of an approaching flood threat throughout the states, which would enable it to take preventative action to remove possible victims.”
According to him, SMEDAN is assisting MSMEs in overcoming obstacles, particularly those related to low production costs and rent, which allow them to be profitable and contribute to the economy.
President Tinubu’s deputy chief of staff, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, claims that MSMEs provide any economy flexibility and resilience.
A nation with a strong MSME sector, would have a thriving economy and be able to adjust to some of the shocks that the world is currently experiencing, he stated.
“For SMEs to develop, partnerships like this one with Access Bank are crucial. The influence of technology on agriculture should also be considered, as it plays a significant role in the GDP growth rate of the country.
“Our yields on some of even our most common crops will increase if we do it correctly. To increase our output, we must have it. Additionally, it will inspire the next generation to become involved,” he said.
