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General News of Sunday, 7 February 2021

Source: today.ng

Nigerian govt lists conditions for new MSMEs support

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A new programme by the Nigerian government to support 100,000 small and medium businesses will commence on February 9.

The federal government announced that the registration for the Guaranteed Off-take Stimulus scheme (GOS) and the general micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) grant will commence on February 9.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the project delivery office of the scheme on its Twitter page, Thursday.

The steering committee of the scheme chaired by Mariam Katagum, minister of state for industry, trade and investment, said in the statement that the portal would be opened on February 9, 2021.

The Guaranteed Off-take Stimulus scheme is aimed at protecting and sustaining the incomes of vulnerable micro and small businesses by guaranteeing the offtake of their products.

According to the statement, a total of 100,000 MSMEs will benefit from the scheme.

Lagos will get 3,880; Kano, 3,280; Abia, 3,080; while the other states will each have 2,640 beneficiaries.

Similarly, it said, a one-off grant of N50,000 will be given to each qualified MSME as direct cash injection into their enterprise.

This is designed to help boost the growth of 100,000 MSMEs spread across the states.

Companies making the following products are expected to benefit from the scheme: face mask, liquid soap, disinfectant, hand sanitiser and processed foods.

Qualification criteria

According to the statement, to qualify for the scheme, an applicant must be a Nigerian national, the business must be registered under Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with at least a business name certificate, must have a bank verification number (BVN) and bank account number, must have at least two staff and must be ready to produce under National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) specifications.

In the statement, the committee warned Nigerians to beware of fraudsters as the registration is absolutely free.