Vice President Kashim Shettima has praised Access Bank for its initiative to provide N30 billion in discounted loans to 700,000 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Gatekeepers News reports Shettima disclosed this during a meeting with MSME stakeholders, comprising key actors from the public and private sectors at the Presidential Villa during the weekend.
The Access Bank loan scheme, set to commence soon, aims to support MSMEs, with a particular focus on youth and women as target beneficiaries.
“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 have 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% interest rate,” he said in a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha.
The loans will be provided at a 15% interest rate. Shettima highlighted the potential for positive transformations in various sectors, including agriculture, digital services, and manufacturing, and urged stakeholders to work together to address common challenges.
During the meeting, Shettima met with a delegation from Access Bank, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna.
The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii, expressed gratitude on behalf of the stakeholders, acknowledging the VP’s leadership and commitment to transforming the MSME space in Nigeria. The stakeholders pledged their readiness to align with the vision of the Tinubu administration in the MSME sector.
