Niger State Commissioner for Commerce and Investment, Alhaji Mudi Muhammad, has disclosed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), released N1 billion from the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) to the state government.
The Commissioner, who made the disclosure during at a press briefing in Minna, the state capital, said the fund was the second tranche to be received by the government
Muhammad explained that the fund was part of the Federal Government’s funding initiative to create jobs for youths and women as well as alleviate poverty in the country.
He explained: “This fund is the effort of the Federal Government to create job opportunities for women, youths and vulnerable Nigerians.
“The disbursement of the first tranche is still ongoing and the CBN has recorded the state as the most successful, as the fund has been given to the actual beneficiaries. The programme is targeted at employing 11,578 people, creating 3,000 jobs and covering over 20,000 indigent youths,” Muhammad added.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the state’s MSMEDF, Alhaji Farouk Audi, gave insight into why the Fund was created by the Federal Government through the CBN, which earmarked N220 billion for each state to access a maximum of N2 billion.
He explained that the programme was designed to reach out nine million Nigerians in five years as part of government’s employment and economic empowerment interventions for millions of ordinary Nigerians.
The MSMEDF targets 60 percent women and 40 percent youths and the vulnerable nationwide.
He explained further: “The fund is channeled through financial institutions: collected by four commercial banks and disbursed by 14 micro finance banks.
“The loan is for those who are into businesses such as: agriculture value chain, artisans, cottage industries, cooperative societies and start up,” Muhammad added.
The state’s MSMEDF Director-General said that the interest rate for the loan was 9 percent, and that 2 percent of the N2 billion released to the state had been set aside for the physically challenged persons to access.
He confirmed that the State Government had on March 19, disbursed the first tranche of N1billion to some beneficiaries.
