Federal government has reduced the costs of registering Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) with the Corporate Affairs Commission by 60 per cent.

Olusegun Aganga, minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, stated this while speaking at the 8th annual Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises finance conference.

The conference with theme ‘MSME financing in Nigeria: Past, present and future’ was conceptualised to look at the MSME finance sub-sector from a holistic perspective.

Aganga said the directive for the reduction of the business registration costs was given by President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that the development underscored the importance of the sector to poverty reduction, job creation and inclusive growth.

He said since SMEs account for about 80 per cent of businesses registered with the CAC as well as about 50 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, there was need to remove all factors that would impede their development to nation building.

He said, “The administration of Mr President has made it a matter of importance to support MSME in certain key areas-access to affordable finance which we are doing here today, access to markets, formalization of businesses, skill acquisition, provision of infrastructure to reduce the cost of businesses for SMEs.

“Already, the president has approved a reduction in the cost of setting up SMEs by 60 per cent and the idea is to reduce the cost of doing business.

“So today if you are going to CAC to set up a company, then know that the costs have been reduced by 60 per cent already.”

He said the N220bn facility whose disbursement was flagged off at the event by Jonathan would help not only to empower SMEs, but address the access to financing needs of the sector in an efficient and sustainable manner.

Jonathan while speaking at the event commended the CBN for providing the fund for the development of the sector at an interest rate of nine per cent.

He added that the decision of the apex bank to set aside 60 per cent of the fund for women was in line with his administration’s commitment to women empowerment.

The president said MSMEs have been recognized globally as the engine of growth in any development-oriented economy.

He added that due to their inherent labour intensive production processes, they also provide a veritable platform for job creation.

He said, “All over the developed world, the contribution of MSME to GDP is on the average of about 47 per cent, this shows clearly how important the MSME are to us.

“With about 17.3 million SMEs in Nigeria, there is need for more concrete and concerted efforts to expand the activities of MSMEs in our country.”

He said the focus of this year’s conference which is geared towards enhancing access to finance was appropriate noting that a vibrant MSME sub sector was indispensable to achieving sustainable transformation in the Nigerian economy.

Jonathan said as Africa’s largest economy with excellent prospects of becoming one of the 20 largest economy in the world in the nearest future, it is imperative that the challenges confronting MSMEs are addressed “frontally at this time.”

The President said his administration had already instituted a number of reforms to improve the business environment and build strong institutions that would fast track the growth and progress of MSMEs.

He said, “Given that the structural transformation of the economy remains our core priority, we are investing heavily in critical infrastructure to promote job creation and inclusive growth.

“We are aware that inadequate infrastructure increase the cost of production by estimated 30 per cent making Nigerian goods under-competitive and we need to improve on that.

“The federal government believes that stable power supply is the bedrock of our industrial development. It will not only reduce the cost of manufacturing and services significantly, it will also engender investments and create jobs.”

He also said as part of measures to enhance the contribution of MSMEs to economic growth, the Federal Government will establish a wholesale development finance institution, which would provide long term funds of up to 15 years for industrial development.

He added that existing DFIs would be restructured for better performance and improved access to finance by the MSMEs.

He said the enormity of the task ahead requires immediate and dedicated action adding that this underscores the need to effectively disburse the N220bn MSME fund.

In his keynote address delivered at the event, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor,  said the MSME financial gap, which is estimated at N9.6tr was one of the major reason why the apex bank intervened in the sector.

He said in view of the fact that cost and access to credit had continued to be an inhibiting factor to the survival and growth of many MSMEs in the country, the apex bank would be working with relevant stakeholders to establish a Secured Transaction and National Collateral Registry to facilitate the registration and acceptability of movable property as loan collateral.

He added that the bank would also encourage venture capital companies to fund MSMEs, as well as set up a National Credit Scoring System to improve access to information on borrowers to positively influence credit decisions,

“We would also enhance the operations of Credit Reference Bureaus. We believe that these efforts would improve the information available to potential lenders on persons seeking loans and therefore, help to isolate bad borrowers from credible ones,” he said.

He said going forward, the CBN’s focus would remain on sectors that can create jobs on a mass scale as well as reduce the country’s import bill and conserve the country’s foreign exchange.

For example, he said the bank would maintain a keen interest in supporting the creation of an enabling environment to trigger private sector investment to curb the growing trend of medical tourism, which has depleted the nation’s foreign reserves.

In the power sector, he said 36 power projects have received N115.73bn from the Power and Aviation Intervention Fund noting the apex bank would also carefully consider funding viable gas to power projects.

He said, “In fact, we are currently collaborating with the Ministries of Power and Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and all relevant stakeholders to find innovative ways of dealing with the legacy gas to power debt.

“This is to ensure that the international oil companies and other producers of gas can significantly increase the production and supply of gas to power plants across the country.”

At the event, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc with a total loan exposure of N4.17bn for 14,752 projects was decorated by the president as the best performing bank in the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme.

Similarly, Sterling Bank Plc, with a total exposure of N6.16m in nine projects won the best performing bank in Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

Based on the guidelines of the MSME fund, each state of the federation would be able to access the sum of N2bn which would be administered to beneficiaries at an interest rate of nine per cent.

Already, the apex bank had signed Memorandum of Understanding with governors from Delta, Akwa Ibom, Osun, Oyo, Bayelsa, Gombe, Zamfara, Enugu, Ondo and Benue state to access the fund.

Also, two per cent of the fund would be made available for economically active physically challenged entrepreneurs.