FG disburses N27 billion from MSMEs Survival Fund, last scheme portal opens February 9

The Federal Government has announced the disbursement of N27 billion to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as part of the MSMEs Survival Fund Scheme.

This is as the government has concluded plans to roll out the last 2 schemes that make up the MSMEs Survival Fund namely, the Guaranteed Offtake Stimulus Scheme and the General MSMES Grant.

This disclosure was made by the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, who is also the Chairperson, Steering Committee, MSME Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-Take Schemes (GOS), while briefing the press on Thursday, February 4, 2021, in Abuja.

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According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), she said that the Steering Committee for the Survival Fund would submit its reports to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning as well as await the second tranche of the fund and that the existing schemes were progressing seamlessly.

What the Minister of State of Industry, Trade and Investment is saying

Katagum in her statement said, “The Federal Government is set to roll out the last two schemes of the MSMEs Survival Fund component of the National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) namely, the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme (GOS) and the General MSMEs Grant. Two of the components approved under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) are the MSMEs Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-take Scheme.

“The Steering Committee approved the implementation of the 2 Schemes in 5 distinct parts namely; the Payroll Support Scheme, Artisan and Transport Scheme, Formalization Support Scheme, General MSMEs Grant and the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme.

“Under these two components, the portal will open from 11:59 pm on Tuesday, 9th February 2021 to Thursday 18th February 2021 for the Guaranteed Off take Scheme (GOS) and General MSME Grant Applications. All interested MSMEs can go directly to the Portal and register for either of the Schemes free of charge.”

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The Minister explained that the purpose of GOS is to stimulate direct local production by enabling 100,000 MSMEs in the production sector with funds to produce post-Covid lockdown stimulus products.

While pointing out that the scheme would give preference to products produced in reasonably sufficient volumes in each State of the Federation, Katagum said that the product must be able to create jobs and have a multiplier effect on the surrounding economy.

She listed some of the products of interest to the Federal Government to include: face masks, hand sanitiser, liquid soap, disinfectant and processed foods.

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Making his own contribution, the Special Assistant to the President of MSMEs in the office of the Vice President, Mr Tola Johnson, revealed that a total of 100,000 businesses across the 36 states and FCT would benefit from the new schemes.

Johnson added that the portal for the GOS would be opened for 2 weeks while the portal for the grant would be opened for a week.

He listed some of the conditions to qualify to participate in the scheme to include; businesses must be registered in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), must be owned by a Nigerian and must have a minimum of two staff and that the disbursement would be on a first-come-first-served basis.

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What you should know

• The N60 billion MSME Survival Fund and the N15 billion Guaranteed Offtake Scheme, which is the core of the N2.3 trillion stimulus package of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan, was flagged off on September 21, 2021.
• The 2 MSMEs initiatives were introduced by the Federal Government as part of its efforts to support businesses overcome challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The MSMEs Survival Fund scheme is a conditional grant to support vulnerable micro and small enterprises in meeting their payroll obligations and safeguard jobs in the MSMEs sector.
• The scheme is expected to save at least 1.3 million jobs across the country and specifically impact on over 35,000 individuals per state