The Central Bank of Nigeria has called on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to take advantage of its various funding windows to grow their businesses as the government strives to revamp the economy.
Director, Development Finance at CBN, Yusuf Philip Yila, who disclosed this at the virtual launch of the first pan-African MSME Academy, said the bank had put in place several funding initiatives to enable MSMEs survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, MSMEs are an important sub-sector of the economy, hence the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee efforts to put in place combined stimulus packages directed at them.
He added that the CBN’s N50bn Target Credit Facility was increased to N100bn with the interest rate slashed to five per cent from nine per cent in order to keep the MSMEs in business.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, pledged his bank’s support for small businesses operating in the country, stressing that MSMEs sub-sector remains the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and need support in the revamping of the nation’s economy.
Akinwuntan stated that MSMEs were the drivers of post-COVID-19 economic recovery for Nigeria, noting that the sub-sector should take advantage of technology, financial services, and support from the government to drive the survival and growth of their businesses.
He added that the MSME Academy, which is an initiative of the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development in partnership with Ecobank Group, provided easy access to training and resources on financing opportunities in various countries in Africa, how to build a digital presence for businesses and how to adapt business operations in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ecobank boss explained further, “As an MSME-friendly bank, we have been helping them with capacity building; providing simple and easy access to loans in various sectors including agriculture, creative industry, healthcare and commerce among others; access to markets via our e-commerce solutions and simple but robust digital platforms for collections and payments.
“We have also provided a channel to enable MSMEs to open various accounts via self-service on our webpage. I encourage all MSMEs in the country to avail themselves of this opportunity to grow their business.”
Representing AUDA-NEPAD, Amine Idriss Adoum, Director, Programme Delivery & Coordination, explained that the MSME Academy aimed to build the capacities of MSMEs across Africa through a combination of relevant content library, a network of institutions specialised in MSME support such as incubators and accelerators and a community of peers, mentors, and advisors.
