Business
Delta, Niger Win CBN 2010 Micro Financing Awards
Delta and Niger have won the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 2010 Best State Supporting Micro Financing and Best Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Financing awards respectively.
The awards were presented to the states at the fifth Annual Micro-finance Conference and Entrepreneurship Award ceremony, organised by CBN in Abuja on Monday.
The wife of the Bauchi State Governor, Hajiya Hauwa Yuguda, won the Best Support First Lady for SMEs, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) received the Best Support Bank for Micro-finance on Agricultural Credit Scheme.
Lagos State also received the Best Support State on Micro Credit and Infrastructure Development.
Presenting the awards, CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said Delta had won the award for three years and urged other state governments to emulate it.
He said that Delta was committed to grassroots development through the establishment of Delta State Micro Credit programme since 2007.
Sanusi said that Niger created an agency in-charge of SMEs and Micro Finance to empower the less privileged in the society.
“The government has so far expended about N1.5 billion on micro credit, including interest free facilities, granted to 18 micro-finance co-operatives and interested promoters in the 18 local government councils as seed capital,” he said.
The CBN governor commended the award recipients for their contributions to the growth of the economy.
Responding, Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta commended CBN for the award and solicited its continued support.
He said that about 85,367 people, 7 993 cluster groups, comprising 53,104 women and 32, 263 men, were empowered in various micro enterprises.
“The programme has helped to promote the government three-point agenda across the state.
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Blue Economy: Minister Seeks Lifeline In Blue Bond Amid Budget Squeeze

Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is seeking new funding to implement its ambitious 10-year policy, with officials acknowledging that public funding is insufficient for the scale of transformation envisioned.
Adegboyega Oyetola, said finance is the “lever that will attract long-term and progressive capital critical” and determine whether the ministry’s goals take off.
“Resources we currently receive from the national budget are grossly inadequate compared to the enormous responsibility before the ministry and sector,” he warned.
He described public funding not as charity but as “seed capital” that would unlock private investment adding that without it, Nigeria risks falling behind its neighbours while billions of naira continue to leak abroad through freight payments on foreign vessels.
He said “We have N24.6 trillion in pension assets, with 5 percent set aside for sustainability, including blue and green bonds,” he told stakeholders. “Each time green bonds have been issued, they have been oversubscribed. The money is there. The question is, how do you then get this money?”
The NGX reckons that once incorporated into the national budget, the Debt Management Office could issue the bonds, attracting both domestic pension funds and international investors.
Yet even as officials push for creative financing, Oloruntola stressed that the first step remains legislative.
“Even the most innovative financial tools and private investments require a solid public funding base to thrive.
It would be noted that with government funding inadequate, the ministry and capital market operators see bonds as alternative financing.
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