APC Campaign: Over 5,350 Cross River Entrepreneurs Benefit from MSME Interventions

Share on WhatsApp Share via Email More than 5,350 entrepreneurs and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Cross River State have benefited from business grants, affordable credit facilities and capacity-building support facilitated by the Cross River State Micro Enterprise Development Agency (MEDA), the agency’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Great Ogban, has disclosed.

Ogban made the disclosure at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Manufacturing and MSME Town Hall Meeting in Calabar, where he highlighted interventions by MEDA and the Manufacturing and MSME Directorate of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) to support local businesses and expand economic opportunities across the state.

He explained that the interventions were distributed across the three senatorial districts and included low-interest financial facilities, single-digit loans, N50,000 business grants and a N200 million MSME intervention fund.

Ogban, who also chairs the Manufacturing and MSME Sector Mobilisation Directorate in Cross River State, said the programmes were designed to improve access to finance, strengthen business capacity and enable entrepreneurs to expand their operations.

He further highlighted Governor Bassey Otu’s support for small businesses through the sponsorship of 1,000 free Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) business registration slots for local entrepreneurs, noting that formalising their businesses would improve their access to financing and other business opportunities.

Providing the national context for the interventions, the Minister of State for Industry and head of the Manufacturing and MSME Directorate, Senator John Owan-Enoh, described MSMEs as a critical pillar of Nigeria’s economy, accounting for approximately 96 per cent of businesses, 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and 87 per cent of employment.

Owan-Enoh also disclosed that more than 2,000 residents across Cross River’s 18 Local Government Areas were benefiting from federal grant programmes, mentorship support through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and digital business development schemes.

He used the meeting to unveil a document detailing the achievements of the Manufacturing and MSME Directorate under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration and announced proposed federal projects for the state, including an Electric Bicycle Assembly Plant, a 75-acre automotive hub and training facilities of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC).

The proposed investments, he said, were expected to create opportunities for industrial development, skills acquisition and employment when implemented.

Ogban and Owan-Enoh called for stronger collaboration between the state and federal governments to expand support for entrepreneurs, improve the business environment and strengthen the MSME sector.

The meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Youth, Business and Investment, Dr. Titilope Gbadamosi; Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Mr. Abba Bello; and Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Charles Odii, among other dignitaries and stakeholders.