Nume Ekeghe
The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) are building synergy towards boosting the capacity of micro businesses across the country with a Matching Fund Programme.
A statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Unit of the agency in Abuja, quoted the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Radda as saying the two agencies were determined to see this project work in the interest of Nigerian MSMEs.
He said the Matching Fund initiative which would commence tomorrow, with the opening of the programme portal is a promotional intervention meant to deliver credit, to the sub-sector, to enhance enterprise output, competitiveness and jobs creation.
He also stated that the disbursing entity, under the programme, shall be the BOA.
He stated: “Target beneficiaries for this programme shall be labour-intensive micro or small enterprises (MSEs), operating in the real sector. These shall ideally be innovative value-added products that are establishing footprint in the Nigerian market, and require additional funds to increase output.”
He therefore called for applications from all suitably-qualified MSEs located in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kaduna and Oyo states to apply for the programme.
Radda also stated that prospective beneficiaries who must be registered with SMEDAN may apply for loans within the range of N1.2 million to N5 million on business–friendly terms including waiver of collaterals.
