Katsina Govt Partners SME DAN On MSME Development

Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State said in Katsina that the state government would go into partnership with relevant agencies to develop Small- and Medium- Enterprises (SMEs) in the state.
Shema stated this when he received a delegation of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), led by the Director-General, Alhaji Bature Masari.
A statement issued by Ibrahim Mohammed, the organisation’s Assistant Chief Information Officer, quoted Shema as saying that the state would collaborate with SMEDAN, Industrial Training Fund, and the Bank of Industry (BoI) to develop SMEs.
He said that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) had been the instrument of economic growth and socio-economic transformation globally.
The governor said that since assumption of duty six years ago, he had embarked on the development of skills acquisition centres to serve as springboard for job creation and poverty reduction among youths.
He said the state government would establish more skills acquisition centres in local government areas to add to the existing 19 centres.
On the collaboration with SMEDAN and the two other agencies, the governor promised to work with BOI by providing matching funds to enable MSMEs access to funding for business growth.
The governor also said that the collaboration and signing of an MoU with SMEDAN would ensure rapid development of entrepreneurship and enterprises in the state.
The director-general of SMEDAN had earlier said that the agency’s partnership with Katsina State would benefit the potential and existing MSMEs in the state.
Masari said that 19 state governments had signed MoUs with BoI on the creation of funds for disbursement to MSMEs at low interest rate.
The director-general said the funds, when created, would take care of most of the collateral and conditionality’s of the bank that had been impeding access to finance.