Why Beneficiaries from Lagos, Kano, Abia Dominate N75bn MSMEs Fund

Lagos, Kano and Abia will be having slightly higher numbers of beneficiaries in the N75bn Economic Sustainability Plan’s N75bn MSMEs Survival Fund floated by the Federal Government. This is because there are more MSMEs activities in Lagos, Kano and Abia than there is the remaining 33 states of the federation

The information was contained in an updated report of the Federal Government on the implementation of the Survival Fund scheme, as the beneficiaries from the first set of States emerge.

The report indicated that Abia, Lagos and Kano States were separated from the others in the distribution of slots for beneficiaries because of their special status in the MSMEs space, having a larger concentration of small businesses in the country.

Also Read: Nigeria Moves To Support MSMEs Affected By Coronavirus, But Data Poses a Challenge

MSMEs is an abbreviation for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and are generally regarded as enterprises with under 250 employees. The categorization of small and medium enterprises are as follows: Micro Enterprises: between 1 and 9 employees. Small Enterprises: between 10 and 49 employees. Medium Enterprises: between 50 and 249 employees.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, who confirmed this development in a statement on Sunday, however assured that all other states and the FCT would get an evenly distributed share of the fund.

He further disclosed that the steering committee led by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, was working to ensure smooth implementation of the programme across the states and FCT as focal persons are enlisted by the Project Delivery Office to drive the operationalization of the schemes in communities within the states.

Also Read: Nigeria’s COVID-19 Economic Policy Response for MSMEs

The report allays any fears of marginalization of states in the distribution of slots for the five tracks of the Survival Fund.

A detailed distribution procedure for the five tracks under the Survival Fund is as follows: “Payroll Support – Lagos gets 25, 000 beneficiaries; Kano, 17,000; Abia, 16, 000; other states 13, 000 each.

“General MSME Grants – Lagos, 3, 880; Kano, 3,280; Abia, 3,080; other states , 2,640  each.

“Free CAC registration – Lagos, 9,084; Kano, 8, 406; Abia, 7, 906; other states 6,606 each.

“Artisan and Transport Grants – 36 States and FCT, 9,009

“Guaranteed Offtake Stimulus Scheme (MSMEs) – Lagos, 3,880; Kano, 3,280; Abia, 3080 and other states 12,640 each,” read the report.