1.2m Nigerians got N75bn MSME survival fund — Minister

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Katagum, said 1.2 million Nigerians benefited from the federal government’s N75 billion MSME Survival Fund and the Guaranteed Off-Take Scheme.

The initiatives were within the framework of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) and were approved by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 1, 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

The minister made the disclosure on Tuesday at the ongoing national conference on non-oil export in Abuja.

She said, “The main objective of the MSME Survival Fund is to sustain the livelihoods of vulnerable MSMEs and selfemployed individuals mostly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since inception, the fund has impacted about 1.2 million beneficiaries across the five tracks of the fund in order to cushion the effects of the hardship, ensure sustainable production and minimise job losses.”

The minister further said to ensure Nigeria’s presence at the just-concluded Dubai Expo 2020, the ministry spearheaded the participation of relevant MDAs, Nigerian businessmen and women, as well as stakeholders, to the Dubai Expo 2020 between October and March, 2022.

Speaking on the ongoing interventions in the non-oil sector by the ministry, Mrs Katagum noted that, “The recent ad hoc committee on agro-exports set up by the vice president under PEBEC recommendations are currently being implemented under the National Action Plan (NAP) 7.0, as well as the strengthening and expansion of the National Agric and AgroProducts Development Initiative (NAADI) offices throughout the federation.

“More importantly, it is pertinent to state here that the ministry is actively implementing the National Quality Policy (NQP), which is meant to guide Nigeria to build a sustainable quality infrastructure in order to make our products competitive in both the domestic and international markets,” she stated.