FG disburses N66bn to beneficiaries under MSME Survival Fund
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Maryam Katagum, yesterday disclosed that a total of N66 billion has been directly disbursed to 1.26 million beneficiaries under the MSME Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-Take Scheme, including those registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission. have gone CAC).
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The minister said that 38 per cent of the beneficiaries were women, including 2 per cent people with special needs.
The MSME Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-Take Scheme is a program of the Federal Government under the Nigeria Economic Stabilization Plan (NESP) which was launched in September 2020 to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The intervention which will cost a total of N75 billion is in addition to the N2.3 trillion NESP currently being implemented by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic with a view to boosting the economy by saving existing jobs. . are part of Creating new job opportunities.
Speaking at the MSME Survival Fund and Guaranteed Off-Take Beneficiary Townhall Meeting in Abuja, Katagum said the purpose of the townhall meetings was to highlight the achievements of the scheme across the country and get the feedback of beneficiaries on all tracks of the scheme.
He added that gathering meetings which were held simultaneously in Lagos (South-West); Kano (North-West); Bauchi (North-East); Enugu (South-East); And, Edo (South-South), will also serve as a medium to sensitize the public on the benefits of the Federal Government’s intervention.
The minister noted that the projected impact of the program was to directly engage 100,000 MSMEs in the manufacturing sector alone and save at least 1.3 million jobs.
The scheme has set a specific target of 45 per cent for women-owned MSMEs and 5 per cent for people with special needs. The target beneficiaries for the scheme were self-employed entrepreneurs, and micro and small businesses registered in Voice of Nigeria.
The minister, however, admitted that challenges were faced during the implementation of the program.
He said, “The initial lack of confidence by the beneficiaries as it required obtaining their details including the BVN. The above is closely linked to the initial apathy on government intervention programs by Nigerians as they assumed that you should benefit from the scheme. For one needs to know.
“There was a heavy reliance on the use of information communication technology for transparency and traceability, which left the program susceptible to infiltration attempts by Internet scammers.
“There were also instances of applications using fake documents, fake beneficiaries, and attempts to bribe officials to bypass procedures.
“In some states several calculation exercises were done to get the required number of beneficiaries. Under the guaranteed off-take scheme, 19,928 beneficiaries failed to deliver their goods after receiving 30 percent mobilization fee, thereby violating their contract with the federal government. ”
He added that the implementation of Survival Fund in five tracks has yielded positive results.
The minister said, “Despite the challenges faced, the project enjoyed great support from various state governments who provided warehouses and logistics to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has revealed that no fewer than 2,538 MSMEs have so far benefited from the Federal Government’s Guaranteed Offtake Scheme in the South-East region.
Member, MSME Survival Fund Steering Committee, Ubadigbo Okonkwo, made this known yesterday in Enugu, during a town hall meeting held for beneficiaries of the scheme.
He said that the purpose of the meeting was to highlight the achievements of the scheme across the country and to get feedback from the beneficiaries on all tracks of the scheme.
Okonkwo explained that apart from the guaranteed offtake scheme, the sector also benefited from various schemes of the federal government, which he said included wage assistance, MSME grant, artisan and transport and CAC formal assistance scheme.
He said the meeting held simultaneously in the six geo-political zones was aimed at sensitizing the public, especially the informal sector, on the benefits of the Federal Government’s intervention.
“The expected impact of the entire program was to directly engage 100,000 MSMEs in the manufacturing sector alone and save at least 1.3 million jobs,” he said, adding that the program gave special attention to 45 percent women-owned SMEs and five percent . For people with special needs.
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