Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to support the Federal Government with $500 million for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in technology.
The Vice President, who noted that such intervention would be helpful in addition to the N75 million Youth Fund set aside for young people in shall business, made this disclosure Monday at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, where he was Special Guest of Honour at the university’s 33rd Inaugural Lecture.
In a release by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo noted that Nigeria as a large country would require a huge amount of money to support more businesses in a way that they ought to be supported.
In his brief remarks at the event, Osinbajo said the government must keep working on small businesses because that was the future of our country.
“There is no question that the economic future of our country will depend on small businesses,” he stressed.
According to him, the MSMEs Clinics were designed by the government to bring regulatory agencies, whose works affect the business experience of MSMEs, in direct interface with small business owners in the same spot.
Earlier in the lecture, Prof. Oluseyi Oduyoye, said while there was much to be done in the MSMEs space to achieve the desired objectives, issues around integrity in the conduct of small businesses had to be addressed as well.
Other dignitaries present at the event include Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele; former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) boss, Dr. Babatunde Fowler; board member of Nigeria-Canada Trade and Investment Group, Chief Taiwo Odutola; the Vice Chancellor of Babcock University, Prof. Ademola Tayo; the Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi; the Olofin of Ilishan, Oba Arimasakin Olufemi Shonuga, among others.