Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Despite the prevailing forex restriction for import goods by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), textile is now the highest imported commodity according to the latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS). The value of imports in 2020, according to NBS, was 19.89tn, having grown by 17.32 percent year-on-year from 2019 to 2020 as imports stood at N16.96tn in 2019. 

The Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), Dr. Olawale Fasanya said the agency in partnership with JAiz Bank will commence the disbursement of N1.2 billion matching funds to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises across the country. Fasanya stated this on Monday in Abuja at a press briefing to commemorate this year’s World MSME day which had theme “Building a stronger future together”. According to him, “SMEDAN have over N600 million match funds on ground and Jaiz Bank is matching it with another N600 million which means there is about N1.2 billion available and when we get our allocation for this year, we will expand,” he said. The DG noted that “The intervention delivers credit as a promotional mechanism to enhance enterprise output, competitiveness and job creation. Prospective beneficiaries can access loans between N500,000 and N2.5M”. Fasanya further stated that plans are on the way to establish the SMEDAN investment company to run its other operations asides the normal subvention it receives from the government, adding that the agency is expecting its operational license soon from the Central Bank of Nigeria to commence operation of the SMEDAN micro-finance bank where MSMEs can access credit easier.