TheCable

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the federal government has disbursed N125 million as loans to micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) in Akwa Ibom.

He disclosed this at the nationwide MSME clinics for viable enterprises, Akwa Ibom Edition in Uyo on Saturday.

“About 2,445 Akwa Ibom people have benefitted from the programme across 62 associations in the state,” he said.

NAN reports that the programme was organised by the office of the Vice-President in partnership with the federal ministry of industry, trade and investment and the Akwa Ibom government.

He said the loan, an intervention programme of Bank of Industry (BoI) under government enterprise and empowerment programme (GEEP), was to provide non-interest credit facility to qualified Nigerians.

Osinbajo, who was represented by Tola Johnson, his technical adviser on SMSE, said: “Akwa Ibom is the 11th state that benefitted from FG’s MSME clinic.”

He said the essence of the programme was to bring together all regulators of MSME space to solve MSME-related issues in any state.

The vice president said the federal government would identify 100 good businesses and give them N500,000 each to facilitate their businesses.

“It is a single digit loan and for 24 months and five per cent interest rate, ” he said.

In his remarks, Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom, said the forum would discuss how much business enterprises could harness to drive the economic development.

He described micro businesses as the economic framework for building equitable corporate wealth for any polity.

Emmanuel said the workshop was designed to create synergies through networking, awareness promotion, marketing and export windows for participants.

The governor added that more than 30,000 Akwa Ibom people had benefitted from the state government’s skill acquisition programme.

He further said the state government had committed huge resources to resolving soft loan facilities and outright business empowerment grants to various organised groups in the state.

Uloma Ike, group head, micro enterprises of BoI, said GEEP had provided non-interest loans of up to N100,000.

She explained that N50,000 each was targeted for first timers to qualify Nigerians in four target segments and that BoI had disbursed loans to enterprises to beneficiaries in the 36 states of the federation.

Ike said the beneficiaries of the MSME were market women, traders, artisans, youths, and farmers.