The Vice President, Alhaji Kashim Shettima has commissioned the Federal Government’s Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) hub for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
During the commissioning of the facility, the Vice President said the MSMEs Clinics were part of efforts by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to bring the Federal Government’s support directly to the doorstep of businesses across the country.
“I am at the State Library Complex to commission the newly refurbished facility, as well as a state-of-the-art ICT Hub for MSMEs located within the complex. The world today is shaped by the wave of digital technology, and so the commissioning of a state-of-the-art Information, Communication and Technology Hub for MSMEs in this beautiful State could not have come at a better time.
“This is our eighth stop, our 8th Expanded National MSMEs Clinics, and like those before it, the hub we commissioned today is our future investment. We are living in a digital century where technology is no longer a luxury but a lifeline,” he said.
Alhaji Shettima also announced the disbursement of ₦250,000 unconditional grants each to outstanding business owners in Cross River State, as part of ongoing efforts to support MSMEs across the country.
“The MSMEs Clinics are where challenges are met with solutions, not promises deferred. And because excellence must be rewarded, I am pleased to announce, on the directive of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that each outstanding MSMEs exhibiting here today will receive an unconditional grant of ₦250,000. This is not a loan. It is a gift to accelerate your journey.”
Besides bringing together key regulatory agencies to address challenges facing small businesses, the Expanded MSME Clinics also provide platforms for exhibitions, on-site investments, and enterprise development in five priority areas which are funding, skills, infrastructure, market access, and technology.
Vice President Shettima explained that the MSME Clinics are designed in a way that entrepreneurs can interact with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), NAFDAC, the Bank of Industry, SMEDAN, and other critical agencies.
He further mentioned other interventions of the Tinubu administration to include the creation of a N75 billion MSMEs Intervention Fund administered by the Bank of Industry, and a N50 billion Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme to support one million NANO businesses across Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas with grants of N50,000 each.
“At the core of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is a commitment to create an environment where MSMEs not only survive but thrive. We are building an ecosystem that eases the struggles of our entrepreneurs, provides infrastructure that fuels creativity and unleashes the innovative spirit of our people,” Shettima declared.
He also mentioned the N75 billion Manufacturers Fund, which allows manufacturers to access up to ₦1billion in funding at 9 percent interest rate, noting that at least one manufacturer in Cross River State has already benefited from the fund.
In a remark, Governor Bassey Otu said his administration believed in President Tinubu administration’s reforms, acknowledging that the federal government is “building a formidable economy that would sustain and stand the test of time.”
He pledged the support of his administration and the people of the State for the Tinubu’s government while outlining his administration’s efforts to support MSMEs growth and development across the State.
On his part, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris said President Tinubu remains unwavering in his support for small businesses in Nigeria.
Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, described the MSMEs Clinics as a unique federal initiative transforming ideas of budding and established entrepreneurs across different sectors.
The Director General of the Cross River Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency (MEDA), Great Ogban Usetu, said the Expanded National MSMEs Clinics present an opportunity to network, share ideas and resources, and transform lives and livelihoods in Cross River State.
MBAH MONDAY, CALABAR
