AMINA HUSSAINI
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the implementation of the MSMEs Survival Fund will cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian economy.
The Vice President stated this at the virtual commissioning of the Fashion Cluster Shared Facility for MSMEs, the Eko Fashion Hub 1, in Lagos State.
He noted that the Federal Government is investing in the small businesses sector to sustain the national economy.
He said the Federal Government remains deeply committed to creating a more business-friendly environment for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to thrive, as they are the engine room of the Nigerian economy.
According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said: “Under the survival fund is a Payroll Support Scheme, which will provide up to N50,000 in monthly salaries for up to ten (10) staff of a qualifying business, for a period of three months.
“There is also an N50,000 grant for 100,000 small and medium-scale businesses, while 333,000 self-employed persons working as artisans and transporters will benefit from a one-off grant of N30,000.
“The President has also approved that the Federal Government bear the full cost of business name registration for 250,000 new businesses nationwide.
“We are doing all these to support MSMEs across the country to maintain their staffing levels and keep their businesses afloat through these very challenging times.”
The Vice President said the Buhari administration’s commitment to the success of small businesses is evident in its MSMEs Clinics initiative, which extends business support services to small businesses across the country, of which the MSMEs Shared Facility Scheme is a core component.
The Eko facility, which was developed through a collaboration between the Federal Government, the Lagos State Government, and the Organized Private Sector, is an end-to-end fashion production centre equipped with needed machinery and will be made available to the public under a shared facility style structure.
Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was physically present at the event in Ikeja, commended the President and Vice President for supporting the scheme.
He stated that there would be plans to replicate the same in other parts of the state.
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