Edo strategises to access N220bn SMEs fund

The Edo government is putting some measures in place to enable it to access the N220 billion Small and Medium Enterprises fund instituted by the Federal Government.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mr Osagie Inegbedion, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Benin.
Inegbedion said that states across the federation found it difficult accessing the fund because of stringent conditions attached to it.
He, however, said the state government was taking measures to access the fund, pointing out that a state was entitled to a maximum of N2 billion.

He added that part of the conditions was that states should act as a stop gap between the bank administering the fund and the SMEs operators.
The commissioner said the conditions put the liability on states.
“A lot of measures have to be put in place by state governments before the funds could be accessed.
“The Edo government has commenced preliminary discussions with relevant authorities on how to access the fund as we have started looking at the provisions and requirements.”
The commissioner, however, stressed the need for state governments to get the list of genuine and eligible SME operators to prevent the fund from going into wrong hands.