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6,000 Small Businesses get over N800, 000 grant from Lagos State Government

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has approved the distribution of N5.3bn to over 6,000 recipients, at different stages of executing their business plans in Lagos, during the just concluded Lagos Small Business Summit.

The Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, Dr. Yakubu Olajide Basorun, representing the Governor, stated that the challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises do not start and end with credit facilities.

He emphasized that responses from young people, in terms of initiative and business proposals are encouraging, as it shows willingness on their part, in taking advantage of the opportunity given.

“We established a board comprising mostly experienced people from the private sector, to manage the process of identifying beneficiaries, disbursing of fund as well as giving technical support necessary for the success of business enterprises”.

This year’s theme for the Summit is ‘Creating Exponential Institutions: How Government and Small Business can keep up with the Market’.

He maintained that Lagos State Government was committed to providing beneficiaries with the necessary support, adding that the State has lots of business opportunities, with a population of over 20 million people, who are noted for high level of resourcefulness and entrepreneurial skills.

According to Governor Ambode, the Employment Trust Fund created is meant to address the challenges of lack of access to funding, while ensuring the sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises.

In June 2015, the Bank Of Industry (BOI) disbursed N2.4bn to SMEs in Osun State and also approved N3.5bn for SMEs in the State. The following year, BOI granted N48.44m to 15 SMEs in Kaduna State.

In June 2016, the Bank Of Industry (BOI) and the Abia State Government signed an agreement to pump N1bn into Small and Medium Enterprises in the State, which was successful. In the same month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) partnered with the Kano State Government, in releasing N2bn to fund SMEs in the State.

Ebonyi State Government in 2016 sealed a N2bn deal, to empower Small and Medium Enterprises in the State.

In November 2016, Anambra State Government also secured N3bn grant from CBN to invest in the State’s SMEs.

The following year, Sokoto State Government also released N1bn to support SMEs.

In April 2017, Edo State Government granted N1.8bn loan to SME operators in the State and in August 2017, the Bank Of Industry granted N450m, microcredit to 7,000 businesses in Ogun State.

In September 2017, over 2,400 SMEs in Akwa Ibom State got N125m loan from the Federal Government to boost their businesses. In the same month, the Managing Director, Bank Of Industry, Olukayode Pitan said the bank had provided the sum of N24bn to industrialists, who have in turn generated about 96,000 direct and indirect jobs in SMEs and MSMEs all over Kano State.

As at 2015, statistics from BOI shows that 17 million of the 37 million Small and Medium Enterprises are not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Also, MSMEs employed over 60m Nigerians accounting for 48% of Nigeria’s GDP.

Statistics also show that 90% of SMEs in Nigeria still operate micro businesses. Meanwhile, Lagos State provided intervention funds for 705 SMEs in January.

As at August 2017, reports showed that Lagos Government disbursed N4.5bn to 5,527 MSMEs in one year. In the same month, the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Prince Rotimi Ogunleye, stated that Lagos State has a concentration of over 3m micro-operators and over 11,000 SMEs operators.

Lagos State also has the highest number of SMEs operators in Nigeria, with 3,224,324 operators, followed by Oyo State 1,864,954, and Kano State 1,794,358.

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