Women Entrepreneurs

FG Urges Women Entrepreneurs To Apply For MSMEs Survival Fund Scheme

by with No Comment Businessfinance

ABUJA – The Federal Government has pledged its commitment to supporting the operations of women-owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, even as it has advised them to apply for MSMEs Survival Fund Scheme.

READ ALSO: 246,000 Youths to Benefit from FG’s N75bn Youth Fund

Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, made this commitment when a delegation of the Federation of Women Associations in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FEDWIM) led by its National Coordinator, Mrs. Anne Ugbo, paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja.

A statement on Friday by Mrs. Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, Assistant Director, Information in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment quoted the minister to have said that Nigerian women entrepreneurs, through their ingenuity have always contributed their quota to national economy and therefore needed to be encouraged for enhanced contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Katagum reaffirmed that Nigerian women formed a very important constituent of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.Katagum reaffirmed that Nigerian women formed a very important constituent of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

She reiterated that women-owned businesses were allocated 45 per cent and five per cent for those with special needs in the Federal Government’s MSMEs Survival Fund Scheme to cushion the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses.

According to the Minister, “The Federal Government clearly understands the place of women in economic development of our nation and that is why this Ministry is doing everything possible to support them.

Among other initiatives, the Federal Government has also flagged off is the N50billion Export Expansion Facility Programme (EEFP) on non-oil export businesses thereby safeguarding jobs and creating new jobs.

“I use this medium to encourage more women to apply and we also urge associations to mobilise and sensitise their members,” she said.

Katagum commended the association for the achievements recorded so far and advised the delegation of FEDWIN to formally write to the Ministry, indicating areas of collaboration.

Earlier in her address, the National Coordinator, Federation of Women Associations in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FEDWIM) Mrs. Anne Ugbo said the association was in the ministry to brief the Minister about its programmes and to solicit support for its members across the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory.

She commended the Minister of State for her motherly commitment to the well-being of the Nigerian women through her contributions to the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

She stated that “FEDWIM is established to serve as a platform to create synergy among all women economic empowerment focused groups to provide a single mechanism for coordinated engagement with government and other stakeholders.

“This would engender effective supervision and monitoring of participation in the implementation of programmes and feedback for appropriate policy formulation and decision making on matters of economic empowerment and financial inclusion of women.

“This would fast track the development and competitiveness of the MSME sector, especially for women who are faced with challenges of poor access to affordable finance, appropriate technology and other challenges”.

The National Coordinator said the association was currently mobilising 50,000 women across sectors and levels of operations to participate in the ongoing process of accessing the Agribusiness and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) loan.

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Youth Benefit fg fund

246,000 Youths to Benefit from FG’s N75bn Youth Fund

by with No Comment financeNews

There are indications that only about 246,000 Nigerian youths may eventually benefit from the Federal Government’s Nigeria Youth Investment Fund, NYIF, at end of the disbursement programe this year.

READ ALSO: AfCFTA Market Offers Nigeria $666.2bn Business Opportunities – Emefiele

The NYIF was part of the COVID-19 stimulus package of the Federal Government last year aimed at getting the economy rescued from the set-backs of the pandemic by engaging the young people in productive ventures.

So far only 41,000 out of over three million applicants has been covered and about N12.5 billion has been disbursed. The government intends to disburse N75 billion under the scheme before end of this year.

READ ALSO: Update on the Enugu Micro-credit Lending program

The beneficiaries received about N300,000 each but some of them were angry that the amount was far bellow their expectations and the purpose for which they needed the fund.

One of the beneficiaries told our correspondent that he was surprised that he got only N300,000 when he actually applied for N3.0 million, which he said was the cost of his poultry business expansion as contained in the business plan he submitted.

He lamented that the development would force him to continue looking for more funding which may delay his expansion while jeopardizing his loan repayment plans.

He also confirmed that a lot of his friends that applied did not succeed while a few that succeeded also got N300,000.

But the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development appears to be disappointed at some of the beneficiaries who condemned the amount they received as the scheme actually pegged maximum amount for individual beneficiaries at N250,000, meaning that over 20 percent enhancement was actually made.

In a statement earlier in the week the Ministry said the disbursement of the Fund is being done in phases.

A statement signed by the Director of Press explained that the ministry had received over three million applications for the initial N12.5billion made available.

It said at the current cap of N300,000 per beneficiary, only about 41,000 beneficiaries could be covered.

According to the ministry, it had limited the loans to the current amount so as to reach as many beneficiaries as possible.

The statement read in part, “The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has been following with interest the reaction of some beneficiaries of the NYIF, particularly those expressing disappointment at the N300,000 cap on disbursement under the first tranche of N12.5billion.

“Firstly, the framework specified N250,000 as the maximum for individual and eligible businesses that are critical can access up toN3m subject to meeting key criteria set in the guideline and conditions.

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unesco

MSMEs Contribute Over 50% Of Nigeria’s GDP, 80% Employment ― FG

by with No Comment Businessfinance

The Federal Government (FG) has reaffirmed that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contributes nearly 50 per cent of Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 80 per cent of the country’s total employment.

READ ALSO: FG Urges Women Entrepreneurs To Apply For MSMEs Survival Fund Scheme

Speaking virtually at the 7th EMPRETEC Global Summit with the theme “The Role of Entrepreneurship, MSME and EMPRETEC in post-COVID-19 Resurgence, the Federal Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment of Nigeria, Amb Mariam Katagum said the government had rolled out various interventions to reposition MSMEs for increased and sustained contribution to the national economy.

“As we are all aware, the MSME sector is the engine of growth of any economy, contributing to its development, job creation and export, amongst others.

“An MSMEs survey indicates that Nigeria’s SMEs contribute nearly 50 per cent of the country’s GDP and account for over 80 per cent of employment. No doubt, the sector is pivotal to Nigeria’s growth, including reducing poverty and unemployment levels.

“It has, therefore, become more apparent that supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses by creating opportunities for MSMEs to thrive is essential for increasing productivity, creating jobs, and boosting our economy.

“This is why Government is working with stakeholders across all sectors, to create the enabling environment for entrepreneurs and MSMEs to ensure that they grow now and into the future,” the Minister stated.

According to a statement by Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, Katagum said “the Government of Nigeria had, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, initiated the MSMEs Clinics’ scheme as a strategy, aimed at providing support for the MSMEs in the country.

“At the clinics, which is organised in various states of the country, operators in the MSMEs space are engaged by regulators and business advisory experts, on issues ranging from entrepreneurship, skill development, finance, quality & standards, and on how to facilitate and grow their businesses and enterprises.”

The Minister further stressed that in order to achieve sustainable growth and development of MSMEs, the Federal Government had recently approved the revised National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which would provide the framework to resolve the challenges faced by the sector.

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Mariam Katagum

FG to support MSMEs contribution to economy to boost development – Minister

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The Minister said that the FG has schemes aimed at improving the post-pandemic climate for MSMEs in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Paypal’s Venmo now permits cryptocurrency trading

The Federal Government declared that it is working with stakeholders to improve MSME participation in the economy through improving the business climate which will create jobs.

This was disclosed by Amb. Mariam Katagum, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, at the 7th EMPRETEC Global Summit,  on Tuesday, themed “The Role of Entrepreneurship, MSME and EMPRETEC in post-COVID-19 Resurgence.”

The Minister stated that the MSME sector of the economy is the growth engine of any economy which contributes to its development, job creation and export, amongst others.

“An MSMEs survey indicates that Nigeria’s SMEs contribute nearly 50 percent of the country’s GDP and account for over 80 percent of employment. No doubt, the sector is pivotal to Nigeria’s growth, including reducing poverty and unemployment levels.

It has, therefore, become more apparent that supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses by creating opportunities for MSMEs to thrive is essential for increasing productivity, creating jobs, and boosting our economy.

This is why the Government is working with stakeholders across all sectors, to create the enabling environment for entrepreneurs and MSMEs to ensure that they grow now and into the future,” she stated.

On Economic Sustainability

The Minister said that the FG has schemes aimed at improving the post-pandemic climate for SMEs in Nigeria. She also disclosed that the FG launched the National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), a framework for the resolution of the challenges faced by the sector.

The programmes launched by the FG includes the Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-take Schemes, operated by a Steering Committee in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

“The Government of Nigeria had, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, initiated the MSMEs Clinics scheme as a strategy, aimed at providing support for the MSMEs in the country.

At the clinics, operators in the MSMEs space are engaged by regulators and business advisory experts, on issues ranging from entrepreneurship, skill development, finance, quality & standards, and on how to facilitate and grow their businesses and enterprises,” she added.

What you should know 

Nigeria’s unemployment rate as of the end of 2020 rose to 33.3% from 27.1% recorded as of Q2 2020, indicating that about 23,187,389 (23.2 million) Nigerians remain unemployed.

A combination of both the unemployment and underemployment rate for the reference period gave a figure of 56.1%. This means that 33.3% of the labour force in Nigeria or 23,187,389 persons either did nothing or worked for less than 20 hours a week, making them unemployed by our definition in Nigeria.

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FG Zainab Ahmed

FG Admits Revenues Crashing, Says Nigeria Faces Hard Times

by with No Comment financeNews

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Monday admitted that Nigeria’s economy was facing a difficult time, saying states must improve their internally generated revenues.

READ ALSO: FBNQuest Recommends Commercial Papers and Bonds as Stable Funding Sources for SMEs and Corporates

Ahmed, who stated this in an interview on a daily breakfast show on the Nigerian Television Authority, Good Morning Nigeria, stated that the money shared at the March  Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting was short of N50bn.

The minister was speaking on a controversy generated by a claim by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, that the Central Bank of Nigeria printed N60bn in March to augment the money shared at March FAAC.

But the minister and the CBN Governor last week dismissed Obaseki’s claim.

In the interview on the NTA on Monday, the finance minister stated the country’s economy was stabilising from the recession, which the country exited a few months ago.

She, however, added, “These are very difficult challenging times because revenues are low and the demand for expenditures are very high understandably because we have to keep intervening to make sure the pandemic is contained as well as the economic impact it has caused.

“In our case in Nigeria, the crash of the crude oil prices really hit us very hard in terms of revenue. We have very low revenues, we have very high expenditures. What we have done so far is just to provide some stability to make sure salaries are paid, pensions are received every month;  that we send funds to the judiciary and the legislature; that we meet our debt service obligations.

“That’s what we are doing. It also means we have had to borrow more than we have planned before the COVID-19 started because we need to still continue to invest in infrastructure using our national budget. We borrowed to invest in key projects such as roads, rail, airports, seaports and several other investments that are required in health and in education and upgrading the social standards and quality of life of our people and Nigeria is not unique as several countries of the world went into recession.

“Almost every other country has had to borrow more than it planned. It means we expanded our economy deficit very fast in 2020. 2021 is a year that we see as the year of recovery.”

According to him, government hopes to achieve a growth of three percent in 2021, adding that some of the multilateral institutions are putting it at 2.5 percent.

She stated,  “It is a very difficult time. I can explain to you how difficult it is, not just for the Federal Government but also for the states. We see increasing reductions in our FAAC revenues; FAAC revenues are the revenues that we put together every month, that are collected from both oil and non-oil sectors from the collection of the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) the FIRS (the Federal Inland Revenue Service) and all other revenues collection agencies.

“ So, FAAC reduces and whenever FAAC reduces, it is a very difficult situation and in the past one year, we have tried to fall back on some specific accounts that are meant to be saved; savings that when you have such a situation, you fall back on the resources and augment.

“So, we take funds based on Mr President’s approval either from Excess Crude or Stabilisation Account or in some cases, President approved for us to take funds from LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) dividends. In the month of March, we had a shortfall of FAAC that was about N50bn; we didn’t have enough accrued in any of those accounts other than some N8.5bn that we took from exchange rate differential account so we added that and we ended up with the FAAC of N605bn.

“An average FAAC that is healthy for us is N650bn, so it means we had a shortfall of about N50bn. The states to be honest wanted us to go and borrow from the central bank to augment FAAC.”

She stated that advice by states was rejected, adding that the three levels of government were asked to manage what was available.

“So, it was very surprising when we had a sitting governor saying that the CBN had printed money for FAAC. That was very unfortunate because it was not true. The FAAC information is published so you can see the revenue contributed by each of the agency; that is what we shared.

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Agro-processing

Eight States To Benefit From FG’s Agro-Processing Zones Programme

by with No Comment Business

The Federal Government has announced plans to launch a special agro-industrial processing zones (SAPZ) programme in 7 states of the federation, including the FCT.

READ ALSO: SON Plans Pact To Train SME’s On Standard Products

Laolu Akande, spokesman of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, made this known in a statement in Abuja.

He said the project is in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other stakeholders in the agric sector, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Bank of Industry (BOI).

The programme is aimed at concentrating agro-processing activities in demarcated areas to boost productivity and integrate production, processing and marketing of selected commodities.

Akande said Osinbajo was briefed on the progress of the project in a meeting attended by Mohammed Nanono, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Niyi Adebayo, his counterpart in the Industry, Trade and Investment Ministry.

Under the programme, the federal government will demarcate areas across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to establish about 140 agro-processing centres.

He said the centres will be provided with basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads as well as facilities for skills training, while small-holder farmers in the catchment areas will be linked to markets across the value chain.

Akande said seven states — Ogun, Oyo, Imo, Cross River, Kano, Kaduna, Kwara — and the FCT have been selected for the first phase of the project.

Speaking on the progress recorded so far, Toda Atsuko, AfDB’s acting Vice-President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, said the bank in collaboration with other stakeholders is ready to start the first phase of the SAPZ programme, having completed a joint appraisal mission across the 36 states.

Atsuko commended the administration of Presidential Muhammadu Buhari for its efforts, adding that the plan will create jobs, and leverage technology with significant youth participation.

“I am very pleased to see that work has advanced and quite a bit is already being done. There is a need to synergize really concretely with Green Imperative (which is the partnership with the Brazilians), I think there are areas where these two programmes can complement each other,” he said.

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Dangote Cement

Dangote Commits $700m To Sugar Production

by with No Comment BusinessFeatured

The management of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has said it is committing over $700m to its sugar projects to support the Backward Integration Policy of the Federal Government to make Nigeria self-sufficient in sugar production.

READ ALSO: Congratulations to our CAC Formalization Grant beneficiaries!

According to a statement issued by Dangote Industries Limited, the company disclosed this to visiting members of the Nasarawa House of Assembly last weekend.

The company noted that Nigeria was one of the sub-Saharan Africa’s largest importers of sugar, second only to South Africa with an annual import of over $337m.

The Dangote Sugar management however, assured the lawmakers that with the completion of its sugar projects in Nasarawa and Adamawa under the BIP, the nation would be saved more than half of the forex expended on sugar imports annually.

It added that the investment would also lift its people as other people-oriented infrastructures would come with the sugar projects.

The state lawmakers commended the Dangote Group for choice of the state for the project and the accelerated pace with which the project was being executed, despite occasional delays arising from communal disagreements.

General Manager for the BIP, Dangote Sugar, John Beverley said when the factory was fully operational, it would have the capacity to crush 12,000 tons of cane per day, while 90MW power would be generated for both the company’s use and host communities.

He also disclosed that some 500km roads in all would be constructed to ease transportation within the vicinity.

He solicited the support of the lawmakers in controlling the menace of land encroachment by settlers and itinerant farmers.

The Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Abdullah, and his team members, who were conducted round the company’s 78,000 hectares BIP in Tunga Awe Local Government Area commended the company for the project.

Abdullah noted that it would not only open up opportunities in the state but in Africa as a whole, and said the lawmakers were ready to partner and support the company towards the realisation of the sugar project through relevant legislations.

When the phase II of the project is completed, according to the company, it will make it the largest sugar refining plant in Africa.

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mortgage house

FG begins full commercialization of Federal Mortgage Bank

by with No Comment Business

As part of ongoing reform in the Housing sector, the federal government (FG) has commenced a process that would see the repositioning of its owned Mortgage Bank (FMBN) as a profitable entity.

READ ALSO: End current monetary rascality, Obaseki replies FG

Alex Okoh, director-general, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), said efforts to reposition the bank are for optimum performance and to bridge the country’s huge housing deficit estimated at 22 million as at 2019.

Consequently, the BPE on Wednesday inaugurated an 8- member committee for the Full commercialisation and recapitalisation of the Bank.

The Joint Technical Committee (JTC) which has 60 days to conclude set task comprises four members each from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).

The Committee is expected to among others things; conduct a diagnostic review of the Bank’s existing institutional framework, organisational structures and operational modality.

The committee would review and harmonise all existing policies, law and regulations governing mortgage banking in Nigeria in order to identify areas that would facilitate the implementation of full commercialization and recapitalization of the FMBN.

The Committee is also expected to harmonise and synchronize all the reform processes of the FMBN with the ongoing reform of the Housing sector; develop strategies on how to reform FMBN that would enable it to raise funds from the money and/or capital markets without government guarantees.

It would further undertake a review of the legal, institutional and operational frameworks of mortgage banking in a few African counties and other emerging economies with a view to learning from their key success factors (KSFs) that can be replicated.

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Obaseki

End current monetary rascality, Obaseki replies FG

by with No Comment financeNews

What is fast becoming a forth and back between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Federal Government continued on Thursday as the governor urged the FG to stop the act of deliberately ignoring the prevailing economic challenges in the country and take urgent steps to end the current financial rascality.

READ ALSO: LCCI Seeks National Asset Register For Debts

Obaseki, in a tweet via his official Twitter handle @GovernorObaseki titled “Our advice is that we stop playing the ostrich”, noted that he is not joining issues with the Federal Ministry of Finance but was only offering useful advice for the benefit of Nigeria.

The governor had recently expressed worry over the country’s penchant for borrowing, noting that the debt profile could rise to N16 trillion by the end of 2021.

He also claimed that the Federal Government printed additional N50 billion-N60 billion to top up the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for states to share.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, on Wednesday, however, said it was untrue that the FG printed N60 billion in March to support federal allocations to states.

But responding via a tweet on Thursday, Obaseki, who stood by his claim, urged the minister of finance, budget and national planning to rally Nigerians to stem the obvious fiscal decline confronting the nation.

“We believe it is our duty to offer useful advice for the benefit of our country. Rather than play the ostrich, we urge the government to take urgent steps to end the current monetary rascality, so as to prevent the prevailing economic challenge from degenerating further,” Obaseki said.

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Federal-Ministry-of-Finance-Budget-and-National-Planning-the-Minister-of-Finance-Zainab-Ahmed-min

Federal Government Denies Printing N60bn To Share In March

by with No Comment financeNews

The Federal Government has debunkfed claims that it printed N60 billion to support federal allocations to states in March, describing the comment made by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki as untrue and saddening.

READ ALSO: Sell-offs in microfinance banks over recapitalisation

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed explained that despite Obaseki’s worry that Nigeria is in ‘huge financial trouble’, the country’s debt profile is still within sustainable limits.

Recall that Edo State Governor was quoted as saying at the Edo transition committee stakeholders engagement last Saturday that, “When we got Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for March, the federal government printed additional N50 billion- N60 billion to top-up for us to share.

“This April, we will go to Abuja and share. By the end of this year, our total borrowings are going to be within N15 trillion-N16 trillion.”

But the Minister of Finance in a statement by Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi
Special Adviser, Media & Communications, maintains that what is distributed at the monthly FAA meetings were generated revenue from government institutions available to the public at the ministry’s website.

Ahmed said: “The issue that was raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad because it is not a fact.

“What we distribute at FAAC is a revenue that is generated and in fact, distribution of revenue is a public information. We publish revenue generated by Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and we distribute at FAAC.

“So, it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC; it is not true. On the issue of borrowing, the Nigerian debt is still within a sustainable limit.

What we need to do, as I have said several times, is to improve our revenue to enhance our capacity to service not only our debt, but to also service the needs of running government on day-to-day basis. So our debt currently at about 23 percent to GDP is at a very sustainable level if you look at all the reports that you see from multilateral institutions,” Ahmed concluded.

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