Trade ministry to ‘give loans’ to more than 2 million artisans

Okechukwu Enelamah, the minister for trade and investment, says over two million Nigerian farmers, traders and other artisans will get the federal government micro-credit loans.

Speaking at his inaugural press conference in Abuja, Enemalah said his ministry would focus on creating an enabling environment for business trading.

“The last three months have also afforded me and my team the opportunity to begin to define and articulate our Vision for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (MITI),” he said.

“I will start out by listing the four Pillars of that vision, and then go on to flesh them out: 1. CREATE an Enabling Environment for Industry, Trade and Investment in Nigeria. 2. IMPLEMENT the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).

“3. CHAMPION the cause of Nigeria’s MSMEs, as a means of creating jobs and achieving inclusive growth. 4. ATTRACT proactively long-term local and foreign investment”eNEMLAH said he would work with the bank of industry and many other government agencies to deliver for Nigerians.

“CHAMPION the cause of Nigeria’s MSMEs, as a means of creating jobs and achieving inclusive growth: MSMEs are the unsung heroes of our economy, currently contributing about half of Gross Domestic Product.”

He added that he would collaborate with other ministries and agencies of government to roll out programmes and initiatives focused on supporting MSMEs with financing, infrastructure, technical support and training.

“As part of the Federal Government’s N500 billion Social Protection programme for 2016, over two million traders, farmers and artisans will receive micro-credit, through a fund to be managed by the Bank of Industry,” he said.

“[We will] CREATE an enabling environment for Industry, Trade and Investment in Nigeria. We are working to position MITI as an Enabler and Facilitator of business and investment in Nigeria. We would like Nigerians and the world to regard MITI as the ‘Ministry of Enabling Environment.’”