ABUJA FEBRUARY 1, 2017 – African Development Bank( AfDB) has approved over $600,000 grant to Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in support of expansion of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment Hajiya Aishat Abubakar, who confirmed the fund’s approval Tuesday during a media chat, stating that the fund was meant for carrying out pre-development study for converting six out of the 23 Industrial Development Centres (IDC) to Industrial Clusters.
The AfDB grant, the minister added, “will resuscitate the IDCs and position them to be a catalyst for economic development. The findings of the study are expected to provide bankable centres to be converted into full blown economic clusters where private participation and investment will be sought”.
Responding to inquires on measures to reposition MSMEs, the minister said the ministry was in process of fine-tuning the proposal that will cede between 20 to 30% of procurements to the SMEs sector.
She said the ministry will be leading a delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa in March.
“It is a gathering that brings together thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policy makers and other start-up champions from more than 160 countries to identify new ways of helping founders start and scale new ventures around the world”.
