TheCable

The federal government says 174,574 persons have registered for the N75 billion micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) survival fund within 48 hours.

The portal opened on September 21 as part of efforts to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and citizens.

Mariam Katagum (pictured), the minister of state for industry, trade and investment, gave this update while addressing journalists on Thursday.

“Registration for the MSME Survival Fund commenced on the September 21, 2020 at 11pm. Within 24 hrs, approximately 138,000 individuals had logged on, created profiles & completed the first stage of registration with Kano, Kaduna and Lagos as the lead states,” Katagum said.

The ministry said all successful applicants in the first stage received verification via SMS and email with a list of requirements for the second stage of application which will commence on October 10, 2020.

It said applicants will be required to upload details supporting their applications which will be verified and if successful, approved for disbursements.

According to the ministry, Kano (16,880); Kaduna (11,438); Lagos (10,530), Katsina (7,354), and Bauchi (6,622) states recorded the highest number of applications in the first 24 hours of registration.

It said on Thursday by 8:30 am, the total successful registrations stood at 174,574 with Kano (19,895); Kaduna (13,575); Lagos (13,640); Katsina (8,383); and the federal capital teerritory (FCT) with 8,085, were the states that had the highest applications.

Registration for the interested parties in the hospitality industry will start on September 25 at 10am, payroll support for other industries will kick off on September 28 while artisans and transporter can begin registering on October 1, 2020.