LSETF: NASSI urges FG to replicate fund for MSMEs
MSME
By Kazeem Akande (08026887835)
Lagos, May 11, 2018 (NAN) The Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) has urged the Federal Government to replicate the Lagos State Government’s non-collateral fund facility given to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises at the national level.
Mr Segun Kuti-George, the state Chairman of the association, made the appeal on Friday during a news conference on the forthcoming 2nd Lagos NASSI (MSMEs) Trade Fair holding from May 17 to May 20.
Kuti-George said that if the federal government could give non-collateral loans to small-scale businesses, it would accelerate development, advance the economy and improve citizens’ standard of living.
According to him, the state government came up with a project called Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), in which the association was involved at the formative stage to access non-collateral loans to encourage entrepreneurs and boost the economy at the state level.
“The formation of the LSETF in the state involved the association from the formative stage through the state ministry of wealth creation and employment.
“This facility can be replicated at the federal level, and it will go far to improve the standard of living of many citizens who have business plans.
“Lagos state successfully gave us non-collateral loans at five per cent interest rate with two guarantors, repayable over three years.
“There is nothing like that in many African countries, and we are enjoying it in Lagos State; that is why we want the federal government to replicate same at the national level,” the NASSI chairman said.
In her opening remarks, Mrs Getrude Akhimien, the Vice-Chairman, NASSI, said that the association was founded in 1978 to cater for the growth and developmental needs of MSMEs in the country.
Akhimien said that the association had provided access to appropriate, low-interest funding from available sources, market development and collaboration with international government agencies to enable marketing of locally-made products and services.
According to her, despite being generously blessed with human and natural resources, Nigeria remains largely a mono-product, import- dependent country.
“Over 90 per cent of our export is still oil, in spite of efforts made by successive administration to reverse the trend.
“We acknowledge the efforts of the present administration at both state and federal levels to tap into the immense opportunities that abound in the non-oil sector and to promote export,” the NASSI vice-chairman said.
According to her, the goal of the forthcoming Lagos NASSI Trade Fair is to find ways to diversify the nation’s economy by promoting made-in-Lagos products in particular and made-in-Nigeria in general, in spite of current realities.
The vice chairman said that the fair would help to bring business expansion, boost the local economy, save foreign exchange by reducing dependence on imports, and also assist in earning foreign exchange through export, employment generation and wealth creation.
“We, however, appeal to the government to come up with developmental fund to make goods easy to produce and cheaper to purchase in the market.
“Cost of production in Nigeria is still high compared with other countries in the world due to some infrastructural challenges facing the country,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) was established by the state’s Employment Trust Fund Law 2016 to provide financial support to residents of Lagos State and to tackle unemployment through job and wealth creation.
The Fund operates with an initial capital of N25 billion contributed over four years by the Lagos State Government, but will raise additional funding from various sources including donor partners, development agencies, corporate organisations and individuals. (NAN)
AKA/COF/SOA
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Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Oluwole Sogunle