By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
The federal government has disbursed N56.8 billion to over a million persons and businesses in Nigeria, including those registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under the survival fund scheme.
This was disclosed by the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Maryam Katagum, while speaking at a news conference held yesterday in Abuja.
The Minister, who is also the chairperson of the survival fund steering committee, said that, “To date, we have successfully disbursed the sum of N56,842,780,000 to 1,079,323, including those registered under CAC.
“The federal government is set to roll out the last component of the survival fund known as the Guaranteed Off-take Scheme (GOS).”
Being the last track of the government’s Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) survival fund scheme, the GOS initiative is a component of the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) which is targeted at 100,000 beneficiaries.
Mrs Katagum, however, explained that only 65,976 applications were received for the scheme as at the time the portal for registration closed.
She said that 50,032 out of these applications scaled the pre-qualification test and were shortlisted, adding that the beneficiaries must be Nigerians with valid Bank Verification Number (BVN) and have a staff strength of, at least, three.
The Minister further explained that the delay in the commencement of the scheme is drawn from problems in other programs such as failed payments, balancing value, and ensuring equity among states.
Given that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the demand for corporate and household products and commodities, she remarked that the Guaranteed Off-take Scheme was initiated to assist small businesses.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya