TheCable

Kano Investment and Diaspora, in partnership with the Foreign Commonwealth Development ((LINKS) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), says it has secured a N10 billion intervention fund from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to revive companies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hama Aliyu Muhammad (pictured), director-general of the KanInvest & Diaspora, said the programme will target at least 50 companies.

She said the agency will interface with the affected industries, to collect the needed information and determine ways to support them.

Muhammad explained that the CBN initially donated N10 billion to the agency for the project’s take-off, saying that the apex bank had agreed to also increase the fund.

“We and our development partners came up with this initiative in order to support our affected industries, because it is worrisome to see our industries in this condition,” She said while speaking at the sensitisation meeting on Kano Turnaround Project on Monday.

“Our agency has produced an expression of interest (EoI) form for interested companies, and that the deadline for the submission of applications is February 25.

“Our doors will be open to any company, until the application reached at least fifty, from then we will see if they can exhaust the N10 billion or not.”

In his remarks, Mansur Ahmed, president of MAN, estimated that 50 percent of the industries in Kano have either reduced their production capacity or closed down completely due to COVID-19 and other issues.

He, therefore, called for collaboration between the state government and other stakeholders to revive the industries in Kano as it would be an effective way to provide job opportunities for the youth in the state, as well as bring peace and harmony.

Abdullahi Ganduje, the Kano state governor, advised beneficiaries to ensure that the loans are put to good use, stressing that the era when company owners collected loans to buy cars or marry wives was over.