By Goodluck Ikiebe in Abuja
As part of efforts to resolve the bottlenecks faced by MSMEs operators in getting loan facilities, plans are underway to float an MSMEs bank to assist small and medium Entereprises.
The National President of the Forum, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau, who spoke in an exclusive interview with our Correspondent in Abuja on Thursday, to review the outcome of the Second strategic planning meeting in Abuja, said it was an idea worth looking into.
According to him, members will be able to access some of the loan facilities they want for their businesses.
“In the recent study by the National Bureau of Statistics, we have nothing less than 40 to 50 million SME’s operators in Nigeria. If we are able to get them to own the bank, they will be empowered to employ two or three people, which in turn through multiplier effect, can generate quantum of jobs for Nigerians” he assured.
Alhaji Gusau explained that, if the members could also subscribe to the bank, by paying one to three thousand naira, when you add all these, that can give us the initial capital “to set up the MSME’s bank.”
He stated,” we can’t do this without the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, so, we have to talk to them. We have a working document already and we have been meeting key institutions like RMRDC, SMEDAN, UNIDO, JAIZ and DBN, to sensitive them for a collaborative engagement to assist us in the establishment of the bank.”
On collateral for loan facilities, Gusau, noted that banks were now mandated to accept radio or valuable wristwatch as collateral,” unlike those days that you have to provide a house in Abuja, Lagos or Port Harcourt.”
He said that on product standardisation, “we have some institutions set up to ensure standard like NAFDAC, SON, NINAS, which I was involved in the setting up to ensure that quality is maintained and standardized.”
He commended the federal government for its financial inclusiveness, which allowed POS facilities to operate everywhere, thereby reducing the pressure from Banks.
Our Correspondent reports that the second Strategic Planning Meeting of the MSME’s was adjudged successful with a good record of attendance by BMO’s.
