The Central Bank of Nigeria has disbursed N20bn to 7,000 beneficiaries through the National Microfinance Bank across the country.
A statement from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Office of the Vice -President, Laolu Akande, said Vice -President Yemi Osinbajo, disclosed this during a meeting to review the progress on efforts to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday..
He stated, “So far, and in just within weeks, the Central Bank of Nigeria through the 56 branches of the National Microfinance Bank across the country has disbursed N20bn to 7,000 beneficiaries already, with plans to give out N5bn monthly to more beneficiaries in the country.”
According to the statement, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said it was ready to register more Nigerians willing to venture into the food and drug businesses by unveiling its e-registration platform for ease of registration.
The agency offered a 75 per cent reduction in the cost of product registration, which will commence soon.
The Director-General, NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, said the move aimed to address challenges faced by owners of small businesses in the registration of their products.
She said the agency hoped this would also lead to job creation.
According to the statement, the Corporate Affairs Commission is reviewing its business name registration processes by removing unnecessary interferences that cost prospective business owners extra money to register with the commission.
Under the new arrangement, prospective business owners could walk into any CAC office nationwide and register a business name by themselves without the assistance of a lawyer, an accountant or any middle-person.
It added that the Director General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, Dr Dikko Umaru Radda, disclosed plans to commence the registration of MSMEs in the country as part of measures to build a comprehensive database of MSMEs for the purposes of planning, coordination and development.
The statement said the Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Mr Kayode Pitan, said the $20m technology fund approved for young innovators, was part of measures of the bank to encourage technology innovators to grow the technology sector.
He disclosed that the bank’s board had approved the soft loan fund already.
Pitan explained that technology innovators and start-ups would be supported through the fund to grow viable businesses in the technology sector, adding that National Information Technology Development would monitor progress made by beneficiaries of the fund.
