Access Bank has announced the partnership with the Office of the Vice President to commit N30 billion for four million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women and youth businesses in Nigeria.
This disclosure was made by the Group Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr Roosevelt Ogbonna, during an interview with journalists after a meeting with the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, on Friday in Abuja.
The bank’s Group Managing Director disclosed that the N30 billion would be provided to the MSMEs at discounted rates between 15 to 17 per cent.
According to Ogbonna, the programme would benefit 700,000 to a million while overall four million deserving MSMEs, youths and some will be directly impacted.
He, however, noted that the Vice President directed that the programme should give special attention to businesses belonging to women.
The bank’s Group Managing Director also revealed that the youth who would benefit from the programme would undergo training to enable them to optimally make use of the loan, while MSMEs would be trained to ensure they find new markets for the products or services they come up with.
In his words,
On his part, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, Office of the Vice-President, said the Federal Government was dedicated to partnering with the private sector to support SMEs.
He said:
