Economy
EDO Government has restated its commitment to ensure that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state are able to access loans easily.
Mr Kelvin Uwaibi, the Managing Director, Edo State Investment Promotion Office (ESIPO), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Wednesday.
Uwaibi said that it was imperative that MSMEs operators had access to loans, as businesses would not thrive without finance.
He said that as a result of the Obaseki-led government’s dedication to improving MSMEs, a committee was set up to ensure that operators of MSMEs accessed a N2 billon loan.
“The committee is supporting MSMEs to ensure that they meet the criteria to access loans because we have found out that most of them don’t meet the criteria when it comes to accessing loans.
“Most MSMEs operators do not keep their records but the big business do, so we are focusing on how the artisans, micro and small businesses can keep financial records to enable them access loans.
“The state government is currently partnering with an Information Technology company to equip 10,000 MSMEs with skills to keep their financial records using digital applications.
“We want to make them understand how they can upscale, the MSMEs committee is looking at a holistic way to tackle the challenges MSMEs face,’’ he said.
The managing director said ESIPO had been collaborating with the Bank of Industry (BOI), GIZ, SMEDAN, Edo Ministry of Trade, Cooperatives and Edojobs to boost support for MSMEs.
“We are taking the MSMEs very seriously and we are having more organisation coming to support them, we have a dedicated agency that is training MSMEs, the Edojobs,’’ he said. (NAN)
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Tags: Bank of Industry (BOI) Edo Government Edo State Investment Promotion Office (ESIPO) GIZ Kelvin Uwaibi Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) SMEDAN
