Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) owners have been advised to take advantage of the N200bn Presidential Intervention Fund to boost their businesses.
Ogun State Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adebola Sofela made the appeal in Abeokuta, while delivering his keynote address at the Town Hall and sensitisation programme for MSMEs and manufacturing enterprises on the Fund, which comprises of the N50bn Nano grant, N75bn Loan Scheme for big businesses and N75bn loan scheme for MSMEs.
Sofela, represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade, Mrs. Oluyemisi Somorin-Dawodu, explained that the Fund was designed to help enterprises to scale up businesses and strengthen the operational capacity of entrepreneurs, to enable them contribute effectively to the local and national economic development.
“Many entrepreneurs in the state have benefitted from the Nano grant and other loan schemes of the Fund at favourable terms for businesses, which are yielding results. The scheme is ongoing, and we are here today so that more entrepreneurs can be sensitised and their questions answered. We believe that more entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from this programme”, Sofela said.
He noted that the intervention aligns with the economic transformation of the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration, stating that different programmes had been facilitated to engender business growth, skill development, access to finance, and many more, with provision of infrastructure and implementation of business-friendly policies.
In his address, State Manager, Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr. Michael Agidani disclosed that the N75bn loan scheme for MSMEs was available for existing small businesses and start-ups that had registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), adding that each business could borrow up to N1m with nine percent interest rate within fourth and sixth month, and repayable within three years, while enjoying a moratorium of three months.
In their responses, a laundry business owner, Mr. Daniel Olukoga and a member of the Association of Skilled and Vocational Artisans of Nigeria (ASVAN), Mr. Roshid Sodamola said the programme had proven to be beneficial to different entrepreneurs across the state.
