State Manager, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Oryiman Alu, has disclosed that 90 beneficiaries have got the sum of N50,000 each from it’s Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS).
Mr. Alu who made this known on Thursday, in Makurdi, said Polaris Bank had commenced payment to beneficiaries of the SMEDAN CGS grant to micro enterprises in Benue State.
He said N50,000 had been given to 90 beneficiaries in each of the eight Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Oju, Obi, Makurdi, Guma, Ohimini, Otukpo, Gwer-East and Gwer-West for entrepreneurial skills acquisition.
“CGS offers N50,000 in grants to our micro enterprises, payment is ongoing with initial payment of N20,000 and a second payment of N30,000.
“We are also registering the business names for all beneficiaries with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
“The registration certificate would be presented to all beneficiaries after all the LGAs receive their grants,” he said.
The State Manager said other local governments in the state too would benefit and the process was ongoing as applications were still being honoured.
He recalled that the Federal Government, through the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had approved a 90-day window for registration of business names with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) at N5,000 only.
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He said, from October 1st-31st December, 2018, business name registration would be made at 5,000.
He advised those yet to incorporate their businesses should hurry and do so.
He noted that SMEDAN in Benue would put together a special package for those who registered their businesses within the period.
Alu also warned members of the public to desist from fraudulent act such as sale of forms or extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public who had interest in the scheme.
He said SMEDAN programmes were free of charge from beginning to the end.
He also said SMEDAN had a scheme “One Local Government, One Product,” which offered loan facilities of up to N4 million; an interest-free loans to three cooperative societies in Benue, with one cooperative society per senatorial zone in the state.
Alu also said SMEDAN was rounding off another loan application process in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by nominating previously trained MSME operators as well as identified entrepreneurs.
The SMEDAN boss in Makurdi advised men, youths and women in the state to take advantage of the government’s kind gesture to alleviate poverty and strengthen the state and country’s economy at large.
