Federal Government to lend small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) N75 billion.

The Office of the Vice President and the Bank of Industry (BoI) jointly announced on Tuesday that micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) will start receiving loans totaling N75 billion in January 2024.

Mr. Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs in the Office of the Vice President, made this announcement in a statement that he delivered in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu had promised to back efforts to improve the country’s micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, and Adekunle-Johnson said this step was an attempt to fulfil that commitment.

At an interest rate of nine percent, he disclosed that small firms nationwide will receive loans totaling approximately N75 billion.

 

The bank and the federal government, according to Adekunle-Johnson, would lend money to small enterprises that cater to young people and women by utilising existing platforms.

He said that MSMEs have received enormous financial aid in the form of grants and loans from the Tinubu administration ever since he took office, thanks to partnerships between public and private sector actors.

The management of Access Bank Plc recently authorised an upward review of its lending initiative for MSMEs, increasing the amount from N30 billion to N50 billion,” Adekunle-Johnson said.

The goal of the review, as stated by the bank, is to enhance the number of people whose lives will be positively affected by the bank’s loan programme.