TheCable

From May 1 to July 31, business registration will cost only N5000, Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo has said. 

Spurred by the successes recorded in the first 50% discount window for business registration in Nigeria, the federal government has directed the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to extend by three months, the special window for MSMEs.

According to a statement by Laolu Akande, special assistant to the VP on media and publicity, Osinbajo gave the directive on Monday at the first quarter MSMEs stakeholder meeting held at the Presidential Villa.

The special business name registration window of 50% discount was granted by the Federal Government through the Corporate Affairs Commission to help to bring as many MSMEs to formalize their businesses.

The vice-president also directed the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to speedily harmonise issues relating to overlapping responsibilities for product registration.

In the same vein, Osinbajo directed relevant government agencies to speedily come up with better funding strategies for small businesses in the country.

Speaking to relevant government agencies at the stakeholders meeting, he noted that, “having listened to all the issues raised in the report and from your various contributions about funding, I think you should come up with suggestions on better funding for startups and MSMEs, we need to address this issue as quickly as possible.”

He said relevant agencies of government must ensure that loan beneficiaries were equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to better manage their businesses.

Osinbajo urged regulators in the MSMEs sector to leverage technology to help build capacity for owners of small enterprises as well as broaden the impact of their interventions.

Earlier, a presentation on the national MSMEs clinics indicated that the clinics have been held in 23 states of the federation while one-stop-shops have been established in seven cities and shared facilities built in Oyo and Bauchi states.

OVER 100,000 BUSINESSES REGISTERED IN SIX MONTHS

The report also indicated that business registration increased from 54,000 to 163,000 within six months of introducing the special window for subsidized registration costs.

In his remark, Kayode Pitan, the managing director of the Bank of Industry (BOI), emphasized the need for MSMEs to establish a company to de-risk BOI loans to MSMEs.

He said the organization was working in partnership with the Development Bank of Nigeria to enhance access to finance for MSMEs by providing a guarantee for commercial banks.