Vice President Kashim Shettima has commended Access Bank for offering N30 billion discounted loans to 700,000 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice-President, in statement on Saturday, said Shettima made the commendation during a meeting with MSMEs stakeholders.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the loans was part of effort of the access bank to support President Bola Tinubu administration’s agenda for job creation and the growth of the MSMEs space.
Shettima, while interacting with MSMEs stakeholders comprising key actors from the public and private sectors, at the Presidential Villa, disclosed that the access bank loan scheme would commence as soon as possible.
” Every challenge, every problem is pregnant with opportunities for value addition and for repositioning of the society.
” I just met with the management of Access Bank, we had extensive discussions and they offered to provide a N30 billion support to MSMEs focusing mostly on the youth and women as target beneficiaries.
” They are going to give these loans at 15 per cent interest rate, ” the vice president said.
Shettima acknowledged that though the challenges are daunting, Nigeria has the talents to overcome some of them.
He said ” in this room are the people that can bring about the changes we seek, be it in the agricultural value chain, the digital value chain and the manufacturing value chain.”
Shettima, therefore, urged the stakeholders to unite in order to overcome the common challenges confronting the country,.
According to him, Nigeria is blessed with the human resources to address the projected global talent deficit.
“ We can make this country work, with proper planning, zeal, commitment and leadership, this country can be repositioned.
” We have the platform to re-engineer this nation. The caliber of people present here today has rekindled my hope in the Nigerian dream, ” he said
The vice president directed the Special Adviser to the President on National Economic Council (NEC) to kickstart the processes for the inauguration National Council on MSMEs.
Shettima also enjoined the presidential aide to ensure of the sensitisation of State governors on the functions of the council.
Responding on behalf of the stakeholders, Charles Odii, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), thanked the Vice-President for his leadership.
He also hailed Shettima for his zeal to ensure the transformation of the MSME space in the country.
He said ” stakeholders were keenly following the activities as well as interest shown by the vice-president on issues confronting MSMEs.”
The D-G assured the stakeholders’ readiness and willingness and commitment were to align with the vision of the Tinubu’s administration in the sector.
In separate remarks, the Chief Executives of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), NITDA, ITF, BOA and National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), spoke about their organisations’ contributions to the growth of the MSMEs and the administration’s job creation agenda.
They reassured the vice-president of their unwavering commitment and support, particularly in ensuring the actualisation of the Tinubu administration’s economic diversification objectives.
NAN reports that the stakeholders were led to the meeting by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson. Shettima