FG, International Partners Plan $1bn Loan Support For MSMEs

The Bank of Industry under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has concluded a $1bn syndicated term loan in conjunction with international partners to support Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the country.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, said the loan was aimed at improving the bank’s capacity to support MSMEs across key sectors of the economy with affordable loans of medium to long-term tenor, alongside moratorium benefits.

According to a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Ifedayo Sayo, Adebayo disclosed this on Monday at the Quantum Mechanics Limited MSME Survival Fund Capacity Building Programme in Abuja.

He also said there was an ongoing discussion with business services company, Dunn & Bradstreet, to establish a Small and Medium Enterprises risk rating agency – the SME Rating Agency of Nigeria, to provide an empirical basis towards analysing the eligibility of SMEs to access credit.

“I will like to reiterate that our ministry fully supports MSMEs, as demonstrated by our MSME Survival Fund Initiative, which was launched in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Federal Government as part of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan,” the minister said.

He added that the survival fund was estimated to save at least 1.3 million jobs across the country, adding that the National MSMEs Clinics also supported growth of small businesses through provision of infrastructure.

He further stated that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council had launched the Export Expansion Facility under the NESP, to support the resilience of new and existing MSMEs in responding to the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.