45% female MSMEs to benefit from N75b Survival Fund

The Minister of State Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Yalwaji Katagum disclosed on Thursday that special focus will be given to 45per cent female owned Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and five per cent for special needs owned MSMEs through the N75billion Survival Fund.

She added that this grant will also be given to self-employed individuals especially service providers such as bus drivers, taxi drivers, ride share drivers and artisans such as electricians and plumbers.

The Minister disclosed this during a press briefing on the national MSMEs survival fund and guaranteed off-take stimulus schemes in Abuja, stating that this track targets 500,000 individual beneficiaries.

She pointed out that the scheme will support MSME payroll obligations by paying between N50, 000 maximum and N30000 minimum to between three minimum and ten maximum staff for three months. MSMEs in this category are required to have a minimum of three and maximum of 50 staff on their payroll to qualify.

According to Katagum, the target beneficiaries are MSMEs in the hospitality industry, private schools, factory owners, law firms and hospitals. General MSME grants are N50, 000 grants to 100,000 MSMEs. These groups of beneficiaries are encouraged to take advantage of the registration through MSME associations, registered business clusters, trade associations and unions.

She said, “All successful applicants will receive SMS and email verification with a list of requirements for the second stage of application which will commence on the 1/10/2020. Applicants will be required to upload details supporting their application which will be verified and if successful approved for disbursement.

The following states recorded the highest number of applications in the first 24hours of registration, Kano, 16,880, Kaduna, 11,438, Lagos, 10,530, Katsina, 7,354, Bauchi, 6,622. Highest application for 24/-9/2020 Kano, 19,895, Kaduna, 13,575, Lagos, 13,640, Katsina, 8,383, FCT, 8,085.