FG Moves To Fast Track MSMEs Growth

The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has said that the federal government would be more deliberate in ensuring growth in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) space.

Naija News reports that to ensure adequate support for MSMEs, the National Council on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) set up a committee to interface with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to enhance the financing of small businesses in the country.

This was part of decisions taken on Tuesday at the first meeting of the National Council on MSMEs for 2025 held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Speaking after deliberations by members, Vice President Shettima said the federal government, through its agencies and partners, has the moral burden of supporting growth in the MSME space and facilitating job creation across different sectors for Nigerians.

The Vice President said the efforts of the administration of President Bola Tinubu in supporting small businesses, evident in important policies and programmes, needed to be complemented by stakeholders, especially the private sector.

The committee headed by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh, has Ministers of Science and Technology; Women Affairs; Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs as members.

Others include the CEOs of Bank of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bank of Agriculture (BOI), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and the representative of NACCIMA and the organized private sector.

In the same vein, the Council also approved a loan scheme for MSMEs known as the syndicated de-risked loans for small businesses.

The scheme would be a partnership between state governments and financial institutions aimed at enhancing access to finance for MSMEs at single-digit rates across the country.

Shettima advised state governments to set up vehicles that were devoid of political interests to drive the implementation of the syndicated de-risked loans for the MSMEs scheme.

“Some of these initiatives are laudable and will need to outlive the present administrations in the States. Regardless of political affiliations, Nigerians must be seen to be the ultimate beneficiaries of these schemes that we are trying to put in place,” he said.

Earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, presented the syndicated de-risked loans scheme for small businesses, seeking the cooperation of members and describing it as a game-changing programme to provide affordable and available loans for businesses.

He said the initiative was in acknowledgment of the President’s passion and commitment to the development of small businesses and aimed at providing more jobs for Nigerians.

In his presentation on the state of MSMEs in Nigeria, the DG SMEDAN, Mr Charles Odii, said the agency was proposing an initiative that was born from a 3-day MSME conference held in 2024.

He said the initiative known as the GROW Nigeria strategy was to provide guidance, resources, opportunities, and the workforce to support about 40 million small businesses across 8 distinct sectors.

Present at the meeting were the Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Mr Ifeanyi Ossai; the representatives of the Governors of Benue and Katsina States; the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh; Ministers of Science and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji; Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim; Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi; representative of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

Others are the CEOs of Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); National Bureau of Statistics (NBS); the Presidents of NACCIMA and National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME).