Wale Elegbede 
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Industries, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, has announced the launching of a N100 million soft business loan support for trained Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Lagos East senatorial district for working capital, as well as asset finance for equipment acquisition at a highly subsidised interest rate.
The N100 million constituency intervention revolving facility, which will be executed in partnership with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), has a minimum limit of N100,000 and a maximum limit of N1 million with as low as six per cent interest rate with flexible repayment plan of one to 12 months, starting from the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2022.
The senator also mulled plans to increase the revolving facility in the same sum on yearly basis. The Bank of Industry (BoI) also agreed to commit additional N1 million to the scheme. The lawmaker disclosed this at a capacity development training he organised for 1,000 Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Lagos East senatorial district. Abiru said the training was to enhance the capacity of micro, medium and small business owners in the senatorial district to scale, adding that lack of capacity had been identified as one of the major reasons MSMEs fail. The one-day MSMEs clinic/workshop that was organised in conjunction with The Fate Foundation, had major figures in the MSMEs ecosystem in attendance like the Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr Olukayode Pitan.
