FG Targets N75bn Seed Capital for Small Businesses
- By Simeon Ogoegbulem
- Published March 14th, 2011
- News
- Unrated
The federal government announced last week that it is strategizing for the creation of over $500 million (about N75 billion) in seed debt capital for small and growing businesses (SGBs) operating in the country. The seed capital, it said, would attract single digit interest rate and would be channeled through the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Nigeria Export Import Bank (Nexim).
Dr. Olusegun Aganga, finance minister, who disclosed this, said the creation of the seed debt capital is part of government’s strategy for financial inclusion and enterprise development targeted at SGBs in critical sectors of the economy. This sectors, which hold the fancy of government, include food processing, tourism, building and construction, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and entertainment.
Aganga further stated that the strategy which is in its final stages would lead to the training of workers of over 1,000 businesses by Lagos Business School (LBS) and other enterprise development centres (EDCs) across the country. The new government push would also lead to the development of over 20 industrial clusters across the country.
He stated that a team of experts at the BoI and Nexim are working and would soon finalise guidelines for accessing the $200 million (about N30 billion) specifically set aside for the entertainment industry. He stated that already, several enquiries and proposals have been made to the two development banks on how to access the funds.
The minister however stated that government would be adopting a holistic strategy for developing the entertainment sector. The strategy, according to the minister, would entail capacity development, provision of cheap capital and resolving barriers to growth. As a first step, government would soon establish a strategic advisory board that will among other things develop strategic framework and roadmap for the orderly and sustainable development of the industry as well as identify from time to time value chains in the industry that require intervention and or protection.
The proposed board will also play advocacy role to support the industry in critical areas like piracy issues in the industry, government policy to support the industry, capacity building and development partnership arrangements as well as attracting investment capital to the industry and the protection of intellectual property
In his remark, Dr Roberts Orya, managing director of Nexim, regretted that practitioners in the entertainment industry lacked the capacity on to put their ideas together in their bid to access the fund. Orya said the inability of the entertainment practitioners to put forward a quality business plan is hampering the process of administering the $200 million entertainment industry fund.
He said that the bank has commenced the process of administering the fund and has so far received six applications. According to him, Nexim has developed the guidelines for the Nigerian Creative and Entertainment Industry loan and have received applications which are undergoing appraisals, regretting that “some of the practitioners don’t even know how to put their ideas together so it is an issue we need to assist.”
Dr. Olusegun Aganga, finance minister, who disclosed this, said the creation of the seed debt capital is part of government’s strategy for financial inclusion and enterprise development targeted at SGBs in critical sectors of the economy. This sectors, which hold the fancy of government, include food processing, tourism, building and construction, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and entertainment.
Aganga further stated that the strategy which is in its final stages would lead to the training of workers of over 1,000 businesses by Lagos Business School (LBS) and other enterprise development centres (EDCs) across the country. The new government push would also lead to the development of over 20 industrial clusters across the country.
He stated that a team of experts at the BoI and Nexim are working and would soon finalise guidelines for accessing the $200 million (about N30 billion) specifically set aside for the entertainment industry. He stated that already, several enquiries and proposals have been made to the two development banks on how to access the funds.
The minister however stated that government would be adopting a holistic strategy for developing the entertainment sector. The strategy, according to the minister, would entail capacity development, provision of cheap capital and resolving barriers to growth. As a first step, government would soon establish a strategic advisory board that will among other things develop strategic framework and roadmap for the orderly and sustainable development of the industry as well as identify from time to time value chains in the industry that require intervention and or protection.
The proposed board will also play advocacy role to support the industry in critical areas like piracy issues in the industry, government policy to support the industry, capacity building and development partnership arrangements as well as attracting investment capital to the industry and the protection of intellectual property
In his remark, Dr Roberts Orya, managing director of Nexim, regretted that practitioners in the entertainment industry lacked the capacity on to put their ideas together in their bid to access the fund. Orya said the inability of the entertainment practitioners to put forward a quality business plan is hampering the process of administering the $200 million entertainment industry fund.
He said that the bank has commenced the process of administering the fund and has so far received six applications. According to him, Nexim has developed the guidelines for the Nigerian Creative and Entertainment Industry loan and have received applications which are undergoing appraisals, regretting that “some of the practitioners don’t even know how to put their ideas together so it is an issue we need to assist.”
