The federal government has rolled out the last component of the Survival Fund programme known as the Guaranteed Off-take Scheme (GOS).
Government said the purpose of the GOS is to stimulate direct local production by enabling 100,000 MSMEs in the production sector with funds to produce ‘post COVID lockdown’ off-take products.
These products include: face masks, hand sanitisers, liquid soap, disinfectants and processed foods such as garri, palm oil, groundnut oil, and spices.
Minister of state, Industry, trade and investment, Maryam Katagum, at a briefing yesterday in Abuja, while observing that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a drop in demand for corporate and household products and commodities in the country, said the scheme is giving preference to products produced in reasonably sufficient volumes in each state which have proven propensity to create jobs and have a multiplier effect on the surrounding economy.
Katagum disclosed that out of the initial target of 100,000 MSMEs across the country, government received 65,976 applications across the country by the time the portal closed out of which it verified and pre-qualified 50,032 MSMEs that are presently being processed to off-take their products.
She added that potential beneficiaries in the 36 states and FCT were invited to apply via the Survival Fund Portal and applications were verified in line with the project’s approved criteria such as: Nigerian citizenship; registration in Nigeria, with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); verifiable BVN of business owner; staff of no less than three persons
The minister explained that government has successfully carried out a mapping of products produced in sufficient quantities in each state of the federation and the FCT, adding that at the end of the off-take process, items procured would be handed over to the state governments for onward distribution to schools, hospitals, NGOs, as well as other public and private institutions each state government may wish to consider as beneficiaries
Leave a Reply