In collaboration with Sterling Bank Plc, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has launched a matching fund program for agriculturally oriented Nano, Micro, and Small Enterprises (NMSEs).
Prospective recipients are anticipated to submit applications for financing between N500,000 and N2.5 million.
This information can be found in a statement that Ibrahim Mohammed, the agency’s head of corporate affairs, released yesterday in Abuja.
According to the statement’s citation of Olawale Fasanya, director-general of SMEDAN, the intervention’s goal is to provide credit to the sub-sector in six chosen states: Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, and Osun.
According to Fasanya, the program is a marketing tool to improve firm output, competitiveness, and job creation. Sterling Bank Plc. will be the program’s disbursing entity.
He defined the program’s target beneficiaries as Nano, MSMEs engaged in the real sector and producing value-added agricultural products.
“The interest rate applicable on all financing under this programme shall not exceed single digit per annum.”
“The financing tenor is for a maximum period of 30 months effective from the date first disbursement. This is inclusive of moratorium which may vary between three to six months depending on the type of enterprise,’’ Fasanya said.
He added that organizations or applicants must be a part of the agriculture value chain.
“The applicant/enterprise must have a Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration or state approved registration and a movable asset to be registered under the National Collateral Registry (NCR),’’ he said.
He claims that once candidates are transferred to the SME Credits platform, pre-qualification would start.
“Pre-qualified applicants shall be required to pay a processing fee of N10, 000 for the business plan template on the platform. A separate training fee is not required,’’ Fasanya said.
