Buoyed by successes in the business name registration in Nigeria, the Federal Government has directed the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to extend its 50% special discount window for MSMEs by three months.
A statement by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, said Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, gave the directive on Monday during the first quarter MSMEs stakeholder meeting at the Presidential Villa.
The statement alluded to a report at the meeting indicating that business registration increased by 201.85% from 54,000 to 163,000 within six months of introducing the special window for subsidized registration costs.
The Federal Government had through the CAC in October 2018 reduced the cost of business name registration from N10,000 to N5,000 to attract as many MSMEs to formalize their businesses.
The Vice President also directed the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to speedily harmonize issues relating to overlapping responsibilities for product registration.
Osinbajo further directed relevant government agencies to speedily come up with better funding strategies for small businesses in the country.
“Having listened to all the issues raised in the report and from your various contributions about funding, I think you should come up with suggestions on better funding for startups and MSMEs, we need to address this issue as quickly as possible,” he said, urging relevant government agencies to ensure that loan beneficiaries have the necessary skills to better manage their businesses.
Prof. Osinbajo urged regulators in the MSMEs sector to leverage technology to help build capacity for owners of small enterprises as well as broaden the impact of their interventions.
Continuing, the Vice President solicited the support of the relevant agencies for the Shared Facilities project for MSMEs which has already commenced in locations across the country.
So far, the National MSMEs Clinics have been held in 23 states of the federation, while One-Stop-Shops established in seven cities and the shared facilities built in Oyo and Bauchi states.
Speaking, at the meeting, Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Kayode Pitan, urged MSMEs in the country to establish a company for de-risking loans they receive from the bank.
Already, he assured that BoI is partnering with the Development Bank of Nigeria to enhance access to finance for MSMEs by providing a guarantee for commercial banks.
The meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu, and heads of relevant agencies in the MSMEs sector including the BOI, Federal Inland Revenue Service, NEXIM Bank, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Development Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Bank of Agriculture, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, and NAFDAC.