CBN, AFRIDECO meet on N220bn MSMEs fund disbursement

The meeting, which  held at the National Planning Commission was chaired by the Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Bassey Akpenyung.
The AFRIDECO,  a commonwealth MSMEs stakeholders comprising of more than 55 million members, put forward a new vehicle for the disbursement of the fund.
It could be recalled that the CBN disburses the funds through two channels – the state government channel and the private sector channel.
Speaking at the meeting, the Special Assistant to the CBN Governor on Development Finance, Mr. Paul Eluhaiwie, disclosed that so far, 15 states have accessed about N17.9 billion, with each state not exceeding the maximum N2 billion as required.
“To access the funds, states are expected to set up Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in conjunction with either a chosen Micro-Finance Bank or a commercial bank for the disbursement of the funds and CBN requires that states obtain resolutions from their Houses of Assembly.”
However, the representative of AFRIDECO, Garba Ibrahim, presented a new model for the disbursement, praying the CBN to recognise and adopt the AFRIDECO as a partner and vehicle for disbursement of MSMEs fund, adding that the company has key stakeholders such as the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, All Farmers Association, Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Industrialist, and National Association of Micro-Finance Banks.