101,567 survival fund beneficiaries  paid — FG

The Federal Government has said that 101,567 verified employees drawn from 16,250 businesses have received their first monthly payment from the Survival Fund’s Payroll Support Scheme, which is designed to support vulnerable MSMEs by paying the salaries of their staff for a period of three months.

The government in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, on Wednesday said verification is still ongoing as the payroll support scheme targets supporting 500,000 beneficiaries with payment of up to N50,000 per employee during the duration of 3 months, starting from October.

“As the implementation of its Economic Sustainability Plan, ESP, continues, and in furtherance of its commitment to support small businesses to cushion the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Buhari administration has commenced payment to beneficiaries of the payroll support scheme track under the MSME Survival Fund.

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“The MSME Survival Fund, a component under the ESP, is generally designed to, among other things, support vulnerable MSMEs in meeting their different obligations and safeguard jobs in the sector,” he noted.

The requirements needed for the application, according to the statement, include: the employees’ company must be registered in Nigeria under the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC; must have a BVN; the business have a staff strength of at least 3 persons with proof of monthly salary payment and must be owned by a Nigerian in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that registration for the Payroll Support had commenced on Monday, 21st September, for different categories of MSMEs – education, hospitality and other sectors (general); and ended on the 15th of October.

The Survival Fund grant has been designed to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on the most vulnerable MSMEs across Nigeria, targeting 1.7 million individuals and entities across Nigeria, the statement added.