The National Council on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has constituted a high-level committee to interface with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders to enhance financing for small businesses in Nigeria.
The committee was inaugurated on Tuesday during the council’s first meeting for 2025, held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The committee is chaired by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Senator John Enoh, and includes the Ministers of Science and Technology; Women Affairs; and State for Agriculture and Food Security.
Syndicated de-risked loan scheme
In addition to forming the committee, the council approved a new loan scheme for MSMEs, known as the Syndicated De-Risked Loans for Small Businesses.
The initiative will be a partnership between state governments and financial institutions, aimed at providing MSMEs with access to finance at single-digit interest rates nationwide.
- Vice President Kashim Shettima, who presided over the meeting, emphasized the Federal Government’s commitment to fostering growth in the MSME sector.
- He stated that the government, in collaboration with stakeholders, would take deliberate steps to support small businesses, which are critical to job creation and economic development.
- Shettima urged state governments to establish non-partisan structures to drive the implementation of the syndicated loan scheme, ensuring its sustainability beyond current administrations.
“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,” Shettima said.
- Other members are the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, and chief executives of key agencies such as the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), and Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank).
- Also included are the CEOs of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and a representative of the organized private sector.
Game-changing initiative for MSMEs
Earlier, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs, presented the syndicated de-risked loan scheme, describing it as a transformative initiative to provide affordable and accessible loans for small businesses.
- He highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s passion for MSME development and the scheme’s potential to create more jobs for Nigerians.
- In his presentation, the Director-General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, outlined the agency’s GROW Nigeria Strategy, an initiative developed from a three-day MSME conference held in 2024.
- The strategy aims to provide Guidance, Resources, Opportunities, and Workforce to support approximately 40 million small businesses across eight key sectors.
