Artisans task FG on interest-free loans

The Federal Government should create the enabling environment for artisans to access interest-free loan to boost the economy, the Association of Skilled and Vocational Artisans of Nigeria (ASVAN) has said.

The Chairman of the association, Comrade Everest Obijuru, who made the call during the 2019 national trade summit organized in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment yesterday in Abuja, noted that the summit was aimed at actualizing the Economic and Growth Plan of the federal government.

Comrade Obijuru said the summit was aimed at reposition the informal sector so as to replace the oil industry, which has been challenged lately.

”The summits will signpost our determination to put at the very centre of the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to diversify the economy away from oil,” Obijuru said.

Obijuru said that the challenge of robust financing for the sector had increased economic uncertainty, made the economy perform at low level of subsistence, and increased unemployment and poverty rate in the country.

He noted that financial institutions are not supporting entrepreneurs the way they should and even when they do, the interest rates are high and the conditions too stringent.

Obijuru said, “This has created more problems for businesses crass the country as so many businesses are folding up due to lack of capital.”

A representative of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Engr. Odu Sylvester tasked members of the organization to comply with global standard in the production of their products.