MSME Loans: 50,000 Osun Residents To Benefit From Scheme

….VP Lauds Aregbesola’s Infrastructural Feats

By Kehinde Ayantunji

The Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo said on Thursday that 50,000 small scales business owners in Osun will access interest free loan to develop their businesses and by extension reduce poverty in the state.

Osinbajo said this in Osogbo during the launching of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) initiatives in Osogbo, State of Osun.

He said President Muhammed Buhari-led administration has identified small and medium enterprise as key sector to repositioning the country’s economy and create wealth for the teeming masses.

According to him, Buhari’s government is determined to end poverty among the people of Nigeria and will continue to assist small and medium enterprises to reduce unemployment in the society.

He said, “Our government is visionary, transparent and committed to the wellbeing of the people, the promise of President Buhari and our party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) is to make life more abundant for the people, our administration is not corrupt and we are going to deliver on our promises.”

“I have inspected some of the small and medium business exhibited here today and it showed that Osun people are reflecting virtuous value of the state, through hardwork and creativity. I see beautiful furniture, artwork, agro- allied products among others and I am impressed that the federal government’s investment on the free interest loan is justifiable.”

“We have brought One Stop Shop here where all the federal government agencies that have to do with small scale business under one roof to address any challenge, our mission is to uplift the poorest Nigerians, federal government is solidly behind you and the state government will also support you to succeed.”

“I rejoice with the people of the state for the developmental strides of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and I urge you to continue to support the governor, I am sure he would fulfill all his promises.

“I have moved down to some places on my arrival and I am so impressed that God answered our prayer that we have someone like Governor Aregbesola, he has redefine social and economic prospect of Osun through massive infrastructural  development”, Osinbajo added.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola in his remarks commended the federal government for the intervention saying the loan will go a long way to reduce poverty  and improve the economy of the state in no distance time.

“We are excited and overwhelmed with the federal government intervention where 20,000 people will have access to N500,000 to N1 Million loan without interest, it is unprecedented and we consider it as a blessing to the people of Osun.

In his address, State Commissioner for Commerce and Investment, Mr Ismaila Alagbada explained that Aregbesola’s administration has distributed N3.5 billion to more than 10,000 people as loans to improve the small scale business and empower the informal workers in the state.

He said they have designed a refunding mechanism for the repayment of the loans and organised the beneficiaries in a way to minimise default.

According to him, the MSME launched in Osun will avail over 10,000 people access to small scale business loans and provide platform for the small and medium entrepreneurs the opportunity to interact with network of government agencies responsible for registering, regulating, and controlling the opportunity to interact on business development and challenges.

The network of government agencies include; Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Small and Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Bank of Industry (BOI) among others

The commissioner explained that most of the small scale business owners including market women and artisans are confronting problem with registering their companies and accessing credit to improve the business which informed the One Stop Shop campaign of the federal government.

Alagbada added that through the platform, business owners will be avail with the opportunity to interact with BOI, CAC and further enhance trust among all the stakeholders.