The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CBN loan

  • 150 farmers to get CBN loan

    150 farmers to get CBN loan

    One hundred and fifty cassava farmers in Auchi, Estako West Local Government of Edo State, are to receive loan support under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchors Borrowers Scheme.

    Auchi youths, recently deported from Libya, have shown interest on the scheme.

    The Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Aliru Momoh, Ikelebe III, donated 500 hectares to cassava farmers.

    Addressing farmers at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between farmers, CBN officials and supporting institutions, Governor Godwin Obaseki said he would uplift the living condition of farmers.

    Obaseki, represented by his Special Adviser on Agriculture, Prince Joe Okojie, assured the farmers that tractors would be made available to prepare the land for them.

    He said the decision to engage farmers in clusters was to teach them new farming techniques “in our quest to seek alternative to oil.”

    The governor said farmers should see farming as a business and make good profit.

    He said: “We have decided to teach people better ways of farming. If we are not self-sufficient in food production, we are in trouble.

    “We don’t want to send you to farms without giving you tools. We can’t send people to farms without access to funding, market and high yielding species.

    “We will buy the farm products at the market prices. The loan has a single digit interest rate. How well you look after your farm will determine your profit.”

    The Coordinator of All Farmers Association of Nigeria in the locality, Abdullahi Mohammed, said they were convinced of the success of the programme, as it would enable them farm without tears.

  • Edo entrepreneurs excited by N1.8b CBN loan

    Owners of small and medium scale businesses in Edo State are excited by the benefits they will reap from the N1.8 billion loan they got through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to boost their businesses.

    The loan was secured under the apex bank’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).

    The state government, last year, with the assistance of the World Bank, provided loans with little interest rate to boost the businesses of deserving SMEs.

    The loan, secured under the Chairmanship of Mr Godwin Obaseki at the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), was a product of the economic team’s policies under former Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    Beneficiaries in the three senatorial districts described the government initiative as impressive and laudable.

    They said it enabled them to become financially independent with a stable economic base.

    Mr Akinmeji Segun James, who is CEO of Meseg Capital Investment in Edo South, said his business, which trains people in fishery, also engaged in farm settlements, through consultations.

    James said the state government-backed facility created new avenues for his enterprise to expand and improve as well as employ more workers.

    The entrepreneur said he had been able to stabilise his business as the facility has a low interest and secured uninterrupted power and constant supply of oxygen for his fingerlings.

    He said: “I started with my wife. Now, we have about eight other workers, who run shifts daily. They include technicians who are on our payroll.

    “With the profits from this loan, we have been able to acquire our land with a Certificate of Occupancy. This loan has enabled me to achieve, within this short time, what could not have been possible for me and my wife in the next 150 years working in the bank.”

    Another entrepreneur Isaac Babatope said he was able to start a printing press, called Babatope Printing Press International, adding that the company could deliver its job faster than before.

    He said: “The scheme is not about ‘godfatherism’; preference was not shown to anybody. The Edo State government gave me this loan with low interest rate. I have polar 92 cutting machine, computers and printing machines.”

    Babatope said he had one partner before he got the loan, adding that three other persons had joined, after the loan.

    The businessman said he could deliver more promptly now because he had acquired more machines.

    A pig farmer, Job Adedoyin, said his workers had increased, after taking the loan, while he had overcome sanitation challenges more effectively.

  • 11, 000 apply for CBN loan

    11, 000 apply for CBN loan

    Over 11,000 small and medium scale entrepreneurs in Ekiti State have applied for loans through the state government under the N2billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Scheme (MSMES).

    Commissioner for Commerce, Industries and Cooperatives Michael Ayodele said the biometric data of over 8,080 of the applicants have been captured in the exercise.

    According to him, the first tranche of N5million would be disbursed as soon as the verification was completed, adding that 5,000 people would benefit from the tranche.

    The commissioner explained that the scheme was being managed by the Ekiti State Government/Central Bank of Nigeria/Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund Technical Committee (EKSG/CBN/MSMES) and would be disbursed through selected micro-finance banks to successful applicants.

     

  • Bayelsa MSMEs to get N2b CBN loan

    Bayelsa MSMEs to get N2b CBN loan

    Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Bayelsa State will soon complete accessing N2 billion MSMEs’ fund from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The state’s Commissioner for Trade, Industry & Tourism, Kemela Okara who disclosed this ahead of the 2015 Bayelsa Investment and Economic Forum holding between July 29 and 31, said the CBN has already disbursed N900 billion out of the fund to be channeled to the MSMEs that meet draw down guidelines.

    He said CBN guidelines stipulate that 60 per cent of the borrowers will be women, 10 per cent start-up businesses adding that MSMEs’ Fund Committee has already been set up to achieve this objective.

    “The next step is that the CBN disburses those funds to the beneficiaries. The money does not come to the state government at all. The state government provides some form of guarantee. We are sharing the risks. We are carrying 70 per cent of the risks while the Microfinance Institutions disbursing the funds carry the 30 per cent risk,” he said.

    He said it is the microfinance institutions carry out due diligence on the borrowers to ensure they are conducting genuine businesses and that they will pay back.

    “So, in terms of draw down, that is ongoing. We want to ensure that by the end of this month, 80 per cent of the borrowers draw down, so that we can access the remaining part of the money. If you want to go into business, you have to take that financial responsibility. The beauty is that the interest rate is just nine per cent which is a good rate”.

    “Our strategy has been that, for us to create private jobs in Bayelsa State, we need to move away from dependent on receipt of the Federation Account allocation Committee (FAAC) funds allocation to having an economy where proper value-chain for opportunities abound,” he said.

    “That is going to be achieved when you focus on industrialization. When you industrialise, you create secondary and tertiary levels where people could be hooked up in the value chain”.