BENUE BEGINS DISBURSEMENT OF N2BILLION MICROCREDIT

Benue state government has started disbursing the N2billion Micro Small and medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF) to entrepreneurs in the State.

Daily Sun gathered that beneficiaries who applied as individuals, cooperatives or corporate organizations received between N50,000 and N10million, depending on their need, through authorized micro-finance banks in the state.

MSMEDF is the economic empowerment initiative of the Goodluck Jonathan administration through which N20 billion was made available to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for lending to micro, small and medium scale enterprises through the state governments.

Each state government can access a maximum of N2billion from it for onward lending to entrepreneurs within its domain, through micro finance banks. Benue state is one of the states that have fulfilled the requirements for accessing the facility.

Speaking with newsmen in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, a member of the Benue State Micro-Credit Monitoring Unit, the special-purpose vehicle set up by Governor Gabriel Suswam to administer the facility, Hon. Terngu Tsegba, said about 65 percent of the fund has been disbursed so far since February when the state government accessed the MSMEDF from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Tsegba disclosed further that the amount disbursed so far was based on the prescribed formula of 60 percent to women and 40 to men, inclusive of the two percent reserved for the physically challenged.

The microcredit facility attracts a maximum interest of nine percent and minimal collateral requirements. Tsegba said that the loans were being channeled through microfinance banks and the terms deliberately made soft in order to make them accessible and affordable to the ordinary Nigerian, including business starters.

The Monitoring Unit was inaugurated late last year while the fund itself was officially flagged off in the state on February 6, 2015. Since then, members of the unit and managements of the participating banks have been carrying out sensitization programmes across the state.

Tsegba while commending President Goodluck Jonathan for the micro-credit initiative and Governor Gabriel Suswam for his dogged efforts in accessing it for the people of the state maintained that the response has been very encouraging.

“Our leaders, have, through this facility, provided access to funding for those who otherwise would not have been able to access normal bank credit. The facility will boost economic activities, generate employment and reduce poverty.