1.2m Persons, MSMEs Benefit From N75bn Survival Fund – Federal Govt

The federal government has said that 1.2 million persons and businesses have benefited from the N75 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs)’ survival fund since its launch.

Mariam Katagum, minister of state for Industry Trade and Investment disclosed this on Tuesday at the national conference on non-oil export with theme “optimising Nigeria’s non-oil organised by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council in Abuja.

The Fund which took effect in September 2020, was aimed at sustaining the livelihood of vulnerable businesses mostly affected by the pandemic, according to the Minister. It is also the core of the N2.3 trillion stimulus package of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan.

While noting that the theme of conference is timely, the Minister stressed that Nigeria can no longer depend on oil as its major source of foreign earnings, and charged stakeholders to come up with recommendations for a policy framework that would boost agricultural production, processing and export.

To boost visibility of Nigerian made goods, the Minister said the country has participated in many international fairs to expose made in Nigeria products in on the international market especially within the framework of the African Continental free trade area.