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Women Empowerment: CBN to Launch N220bn MSME Fund

By on October 25, 2012

CBN HQ, FCT

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, revealed that everything was set for the launching of a N220 billion-Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) before the year runs out.

Sanusi said, when established, about 60 per cent of the fund would be directed to women-owned enterprises. He made this declaration while addressing journalists in Abuja after a meeting of the Financial Sector Regulatory Coordinating Committee, which was attended by United Nations Special Envoy for Financial Inclusion, Princess Maxima of the Netherlands.

He said 60 per cent of the fund will be directed to women owned firms, since the objective was to create motivation for women and assist them secure long-term funding at single-digit interest rate in continuance of the current financial inclusion policy.

Coincidentally, Sanusi made this declaration on the same day the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel said, they will soon issue operational guidelines for the beginning of micro-insurance products in the country.

Speaking at a workshop for stakeholders on micro-insurance in Abuja, The NAICOM boss, said, the expansion of micro-insurance would ease poverty and empower over 70 million deprived Nigerians.

He said the commission was vigorously searching for new supply channels as well as other inter-mediation to steer micro-insurance business as well as advance market infiltration.

Micro-insurance had been specially planned to defend low-income earners against detailed risks in exchange for premium payments in proportion to the probability and cost of the risk involved, he added.

He said, “Nigeria has an estimated population of 170 million and majority of this number live below poverty line. It is obvious that such class of people can hardly afford insurance services and as such remain largely uninsured any form of disaster.”

He said the commission is collaborating with overseas organisations like GIZ and Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) to perform a nation-wide study on the potentials of micro-insurance in the country.

On the other hand, Princess Maxima, at the meeting, stressed the need for loyalty and harmonized mechanism to the functioning of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), which was just initiated.

It was also vital to lower the cost of doing business and interest rates in the country if financial inclusion must attain its goals, she said.