By Cross Udo, Abuja
A group of partners in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) space is set to execute focused interventions, targeting 1.3 million beneficiaries across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The intervention is aimed to complement the Federal Government’s efforts in the move to improve the economy and create more jobs.
The MSME and Job Creation Unit of the Vice President’s Office which is coordinating the interventions has disclosed that the interventions are geared towards ensuring the realisation of the Bola Tinubu administration’s commitment to job creation and economic diversification with the MSMEs playing critical roles.
The interventions that are to be completed in 17 States and FCT are Shared Centres for MSMEs providing four markets with 300kva Solar Panels and Mini-grids to provide eight hours of electricity a day to six Fashion Hubs and two Furniture Clusters.
Other interventions are for car painting/drying hubs and cold rooms for seafood storage among others.
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Following Vice President Kashim Shettima’s directives on the speedy execution of the projects, five of the interventions will be completed and delivered by December 2023.
12 other interventions are scheduled for completion before December 2024.
Olusola Abiola, a Director of Information in the office of the Vice President on Tuesday, disclosed that the States to benefit from the interventions include Abia, Rivers, Jigawa,
Benue, Borno, Lagos, Ekiti, Niger, Sokoto, Enugu, Gombe, Akwa Ibom, Yobe, Ondo, Osun, Bayelsa, Imo and FCT.
Other MSME partners collaborating with the Office of the Vice President to execute these interventions include the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the Bank of Industry (BOI).
They also include the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among others.
