Moses Uwagbale
The Bank of Industry (BoI) has secured a N1 billion syndicated loan to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
The facility obtained with the support of the ministry of trade and industry, has a long-term tenor, alongside moratorium benefits.
Mr Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment disclosed this, on Monday, at the Quantum Mechanics Limited MSMEs Survival Fund capacity building programme in Abuja.
Mr Adebayo in a statement by Ifedayo Sayo, his Special Assistant on Media, said the loan would improve the capacity of the bank to effectively support MSMEs across key sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Mr Adebayo said the loan facility, being implemented in conjunction with international partners, had a long-term tenor, alongside moratorium benefits.
According to him, this is part of its efforts toward economic recovery and sustainable growth.
“There is an ongoing discussion with Dunn and Bradstreet to establish an SMEs Ratings Agency of Nigeria (SMERAN) to provide an empirical basis toward analysing the eligibility of SMEs to access credit,” he said.
The minister, who spoke on efforts of the Federal Government to support MSMEs in the country, also reiterated the ministry’s support to MSMEs development as demonstrated by the MSMEs Survival Fund Initiative, launched in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic by the Federal Government as part of its Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).
NESP is aimed at protecting MSMEs businesses from the shocks of the pandemic, he said.
“The fund comprises the Payroll Support Scheme which aims at supporting MSMEs in meeting their payroll obligations and safeguard jobs by paying up to N50,000 to a maximum of 10 employees for three months.
“The Artisan and Transport Grant supports self-employed artisans with a one-off payment of N30,000 targeting 333,000 individuals.
