By Merit Ibe

Nigerian Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has said the World Bank’s $3 billion and $4 billion from other international donors like the  International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support Nigeria’s economy would not be sufficient for COVID-19 impact remedies and the intervention measures to keep Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) afloat.

Instead, the association urged the Federal Government to create alternative funding solutions for MSMEs in the country, saying it was no secret that MSMEs were finding it hard to keep businesses afloat compared with bigger companies at the moment.

Chairman of NASME, Lagos Chapter, Dr. Adams Adebayo, who stated this recently, noted that it was alarming that Nigeria was pursuing $7 billion loan from the World Bank and other multilateral agencies to revamp its fragile economy following COVID-19 pandemic at a period the United States of America (USA) was taking steps to secure an additional $250 billion to complement $350 billion already budgeted as relief funds for MSMEs.

“MSMEs are the major drivers of economies globally, and as such should command a significant amount of attention and resources from governments globally.

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“Developed countries across the world have realised the importance of MSMEs within the economy and have actively taken steps to ameliorate the impact of shocks such as a global pandemic on these essential growth drivers.

“Historically, financing has been identified as a major challenge for MSMEs – especially in developing countries, even more so in times of economic uncertainty. It is no secret that MSMEs find it a lot harder to keep their businesses afloat compared to larger sized companies.

“In view of this reality, the USA is taking steps to secure an additional $250 billion to complement $350 billion already budgeted as relief funds for MSMEs.

“Nigeria, however, is currently seeking approximately $7 billion from IMF, World Bank and AfDB to support the economy according to Zainab Ahmed, Finance Minister.

“In the event of a successful fund raising from the above multilateral agencies, it is evident that $7 billion would be insufficient to cater adequately for the needs of Nigeria and its MSMEs, thereby creating the need for alternative funding solutions for MSMEs.”