MSME Fund: NASSI Urges Operators To Form Group

The Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) has urged the operators of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to register with trade groups to enable them access funds for their businesses.
Speaking at a press briefing recently, the immediate past Chairman of NASSI, Segun Kuti-George, said that financial institutions were only open to funding credible trade groups rather than lending to individuals.
Kuti-George disclosed that the 4th NASSI MSME Trade fair would hold from  27th of November to 1st of December, 2020 at Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
He said, “We are encouraging as many members as possible to form groups. Funding is accessed much easier when there is a group with a leader. There are grants and loans coming out for different groups and they are at very low interest rates.”
According to him, fund is available but largely inadequate to meet the needs of over 40 million MSMEs in the country.
The former Chairman called on the Federal Government to encourage local producers by creating an enabling environment for the business community.
On the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), he said the organised private sector in the country was not ready because of the fear that the trade deal would put Nigerian products at a disadvantage where Nigerian markets would be flooded by products from other countries that are ready.
In her remarks, the Lagos State Chairman of NASSI, Mrs Gertrude Akhimien, said the association had been assisting businesses that were destroyed during the #EndSARS protest and affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, saying NASSI has secured the promise of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to compensate the affected businesses.