Covid-19: Provide One-Year Interest Free Loans To SMES, SMPS, ICAN President Tells FG
OMOTAYO ARAOYE
The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Onome Joy Adewuyi, has asked the Federal Government to provide one-year interest free loans through development institutions to small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and small and medium scale practitioners (SMPs) in the country.
A statement issued by the Principal Manager, Corporate Communications, ICAN, Bunmi Owolabi, said Adewuyi gave the advice in Lagos during a meeting with ICAN’s media executives.
The ICAN president stated that the provision of one-year interest free loans have become necessary to cushion the effect of COVID-19 and lockdown of the economy on SMEs and SMPs.
She urged the government to focus on how to support these entities and people who contribute the most to national economic growth, adding that most of the SMEs and SMPs might have consumed their capital in order to survive.
She said, “Since the lockdown prevented many people and corporate entities from going about their value-creating activities, the hardest hit were SMEs, SMPs and other players in the informal sector.
“There is need for them to be given one-year interest free loans by development institutions so that they can revive their businesses.
“When they start to grow and prosper, they will pay back the loans while the government will reap taxes from them.”
The ICAN president advocated the diversification of the economy and less dependence on oil as a cardinal step towards setting Nigeria on the path of economic growth post-COVID-19.
According to her, one of the banes of economic growth and development of Nigeria is the over-dependence on oil and poor infrastructure such as power supply, roads, rail, health, education facilities and potable water.
“The diversification of the national source of foreign exchange must be done not only in words and plans but in real investment in infrastructure.
“Nigeria must evolve a strategy for the export of intangible human expertise to drive its development,” Adewuyi advised.
She also posited that the nation should create business hubs based on specialization in different zones of the country.
“While agriculture is key and should be mechanized, except the nation adds value to its products before export, we would continue to be at the mercy of our trading partners.
“We need to process our agricultural products to add value and earn foreign exchange,” she asserted.
Besides diversifying the economy, the ICAN president also advised Nigerians to embrace and patronise “Made in Nigeria” products in post COVID-19.
She stated that the coming of COVID-19 pandemic in the country unlocked the ingenuity and entrepreneurial skills of Nigerians.
She said, “One of the great lessons from the covid-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown was the ingenuity displayed by Nigerians by producing their own face masks, water/soap dispensers, sanitizers, personal protective equipment and ventilators.
“Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. In unison, Nigerians arose. This points to the huge human capacity and creativity that exist in this country.
“The spirit of WE CAN DO IT must be embraced, propagated and seriously encouraged.”
The ICAN president urged the Federal Government to use the COVID-19 experience to drive national economic revival.
She advised the government to invest massively in tertiary institutions in order to fine tune the inventions arising from the emergence of COVID-19 in the country.
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