The federal government says it has started paying N30,000 to verified artisans under the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) survival fund scheme.

The MSMEs survival fund scheme is a component of the Nigerian economic sustainability plan (NESP), which was developed by a committee established by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2020.

The committee is headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

The government had called for applications for the fund in September.

Laolu Akande, spokesperson to the vice-president, in a statement, said the first stream of payment started on Tuesday and beneficiaries were drawn from the first batch of applications.

“As the implementation of the Economic Sustainability Plan progresses, the payment of N30,000 one-time grant to 333,000 artisans across the country is now in progress,” the statement read.

“The payments are being made to sets of verified beneficiaries of the Artisan Support Scheme, a track under the MSMEs Survival Fund.

“In the first stream of payments starting today, beneficiaries are being drawn from the FCT, Lagos, Ondo, Kaduna, Borno, Kano, Bauchi, Anambra, Abia, Rivers, Plateau and Delta states. They form the first batch of applications for the scheme submitted between October 1 and October 10.

“Under the ESP, the Survival Fund is generally designed to, among other things, support vulnerable MSMEs in meeting their different obligations and safeguard jobs in the sector.

“Meanwhile, the enumeration for the second stream of States under the Artisan Support Scheme has also commenced with enumerators in various States compiling the lists of artisans through their association leaders. All artisans are expected to liaise with their association leaders to document their details.”

The registration of applicants for the second stream, he said, began on October 19, and states under this stream are; Edo, Ogun, Ekiti, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Enugu, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Taraba, and Bayelsa.

He said enumeration and verification of the documents of applicants under the survival fund payroll support scheme is still ongoing, and dates for the commencement of payment would be announced in due course.

Akande explained that accepted applications are categorised by industry sectors, including education and hospitality, adding that there may be an extension for applications for some states that have not met their quota on beneficiaries.

According to the statement, the artisan support scheme is to benefit about 9,000 Nigerians per state.

“In addition, the formalisation support under the MSME Survival Fund will also commence today. This involves free business names’ registration for 250,000 MSMEs nationwide by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC),” it read.

“According to the CAC, 6,606 business names in each of the 34 states will be registered for free. In Abuja, there would be 7,906 free registrations, 9,084 in Lagos and 8,406 free business names from Kano.

“Also, a date for the commencement of the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme under the Survival Fund will be announced soon. This scheme is designed to safeguard existing small businesses and save jobs while ensuring continued local production by guaranteeing off-take of priority products

“The Offtake Scheme is a track specifically for MSMEs that are into production of items approved by the Steering Committee of the Survival Fund coordinated under the leadership of the Industry, Trade and Investment Minister of State, Ambassador Mariam Katagum. The basic requirements include CAC certificate, valid BVN, SON or NAFDAC certification.”

By Femi Owolabi