The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) have started receiving application from from small businesses ranging from N1.2 million to N5million loans.
A press statement credited to the Corporate Affairs Unit of the Agency in Abuja during the week, quoted the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, saying that the loans would be funded from the SMEDAN-BOA Matching Fund Programme for small businesses.
Dr. Dikko Radda said the opening of the programme portal would be a promotional intervention meant to deliver credit to the small businesses in order to enhance enterprise output, competitiveness and jobs creation.
He hinted that the disbursing entity, under the programme, shall be the Bank of Agriculture (BOA).
“Target beneficiaries for this programme shall be labour-intensive micro or small enterprises (MSEs), operating in the real sector.
These shall ideally be innovative value-added products that are establishing footprint in the Nigerian market, and require additional funds to increase output,” the Director General said.
He therefore called for applications from all suitably qualified micro, small enterprises located especially in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kaduna and Oyo states to apply for the programme.
Dr. Dikko Radda also said that prospective beneficiaries, who must be registered with SMEDAN, will get the loans on business-friendly terms, including waiver of collaterals.
