TheNewsGuru

Tag: SMEs

  • NAFDAC waives 50% on registration fee of SMEs

    NAFDAC waives 50% on registration fee of SMEs

    The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has waived 50 per cent on registration fee for locally manufactured products to promote Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

    The NAFDAC spokesperson, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that the measure would go a long way to promote economic development.

    Jimoh explained that it was a new policy of the agency under the leadership of its acting Director-General, Mrs Yetunde Oni.

    He said that the measure was in response to Federal Government’s policy to promote locally manufactured companies in order to boost the economy of the country.

    Jimoh said that in the past, a lot of people and some licensed consultants had extorted money from innocent Nigerians in the name of NAFDAC registration.

    “Sometime back, we discovered that a lot of people were extorting money from Nigerians for registration fee of products. We decided to license some consultants who are professionals.

    “But those unscrupulous elements fizzled into the consultancy firm that registered with us and continued their extortion from potential entrepreneurs.

    “They collect as much N250,000 to N300,000 for registration of less than N50,000, claiming that part of the money will be used to settle NAFDAC officials.

    “The agency has taken decision to stop them after the expiration of their licenses; we will stop them and deal directly with intending manufacturers,” he said.

    Jimoh explained that in the last seven years, the former NAFDAC director-general, Dr Paul Ohi, introduced a policy that all young graduates willing to establish businesses would be given waiver.

    He said that the policy was still in existence but young graduates from NYSC were not taking such advantage.

    The spokesperson noted that NAFDAC recently established a Small Business Desk to guide people going into SMEs on how to set up their small factories.

     

     

    NAN

  • Economy recovery only possible if… – MAN

    Economy recovery only possible if… – MAN

    The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on Nigerians to patronize made in Nigeria goods to help develop the manufacturing sector, stressing it is the only way to recover the economy.

    Mr Olu Odun, President of the Association told the News Agency of Nigeria at the Media Launch on Made in Nigeria goods in Abuja that there was the need for Nigeria to imbibe the spirit of buying made in Nigeria products.

    “When we buy made in Nigeria, we employ our youths, we also bring money into the country.

    “The economy recovery plan of the government will only be possible if the country’s citizens will buy what is produced in the country thereby keeping her worth” he said.

    The federal government on Thursday launched Media campaign on Made in Nigeria goods.

    The Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah at the launch noted that the whole importance of the campaign was to create the right environment that would encourage SMEs reduce the cost of doing business as well as make local production affordable.

    “This commitment has given born to SMEs clinic which entails taking services to the people”, he said

    He added that government was also working hard to make funds available to SMEs.

    Also, Minister for State Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar stated that this initiative was in line with the fundamental objectives of diversifying the economy from over dependence on oil export.

    She added that the idea would help to increase local industrial capacity and reduced importation of goods and services.

    “This is expected to boost the Nigerian economy by reviving the local industries to produce good quality products of international standards that will be available and affordable.

    We need to motivate our MSMEs and assist them become formidable brands and support those who are successful by utilising their products and celebrating them”. She said.

  • FG ready to support ICT stakeholders for sustainable development – Minister

    FG ready to support ICT stakeholders for sustainable development – Minister

    The Federal Government on Wednesday said it would support stakeholders in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to create and strengthen a national data ecosystem for sustainable development.

    This was made known by Mr Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications at a news conference as part of activities to mark the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

    The theme for this year’s celebration is “Big Data, for Big Impact’’ with focus on the power of Big Data for development.According to him, the aim is to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, often unstructured data into actionable information in a development context.

    Shittu said the insight brought on by advanced data analysis was capable of complementing the evidence-based nature of decision-making that could be leveraged at local, national, regional and international levels. He noted that it could also help to drive success toward attaining all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

    According to him, this will enable data being generated to be captured, shared and analysed in innovative ways, thus increase the value of data and analytics in our development context process.

    He said the ministry would encourage cross-sector, cross-agency and cross border data collaboration by developing unified standards for emerging data sources and data interoperability.

    Shittu added that efforts were also being made to establish a data-driven decision making, service and operational efficiency culture by developing national policies and data strategies to promote open data and Big Data analytics to enhance data transparency and utility.

    “Government is also poised to providing equitable data protection and strategies for information release; implement an inclusive and open process to foster privacy, security, public trust and ethical use of data involving a variety of stakeholders.

    “Government will also support and scale up research and development in the sector to provide the opportunity for exploring the possibilities to leveraging big data for improving the national landscape for data education and training.

    “This is in response to the increasing demand for both deep analytical talent and capacity for the broader areas; government will also ensure continuous international collaboration to foster innovation using Big Data.’’

    Speaking on the effects of Big Data on businesses, the minister further said that the digital economy holds huge potential for entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

    He added that new digital trends such as cloud computing, mobile web services, smart grids, and social media were radically changing the business landscape, reshaping the nature of work, boundaries and responsibilities of business leaders.

    According to Shittu, Big Data is the way to go in this age and the world is embracing it for insights and business value.“Big Data can promote growth and increase efficiency and profitability across the entire telecom value chain.’’

    He called on all stakeholders, government at all levels as well as concerned bodies to come up with stiff measure to address the various ongoing questionable acts taking place on the internet and in the sector.

    In his message to mark the Day, Mr Houlin Zhao, the Secretary-General, International Telecoms Union (ITU) called for a deliberate action by member nations to ignite a global dedication.

    This he noted was to leverage the insights provided by Big Data for new opportunities to address development challenges.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that May 17 was set aside by the United Nations General Assembly to mark World Information Society Day. The Day was to recognise the efforts being made to advance communication and ITU’s role in helping people connect around the world.

    It is a day set aside to remind the world of the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society to build “a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society” based on fundamental human rights. It also aims to raise awareness of how information and communication can be beneficial for societies and economies.

  • Forex: CBN bars UBA, First Bank, GTB, others from SME sales window

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday, barred 14 Money Deposit Banks from dealing in the Small and Medium Entreprises (SME) wholesale Forex window.

    The barred banks are First Bank, Keystone Bank, Main street Bank, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC, Citi Bank, Enterprise Bank and WEMA bank.

    Others are Guaranty Trust Bank, First City Monument bank, Union Bank, SunTrust Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and United Bank of Africa.

    The CBN spokesman, Mr Isaac Okorafor, in a statement in Abuja, said they were barred, following persistent complaints that some Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) deliberately frustrate efforts by many SMEs to access forex from the new window created by CBN.

    He said the financial regulator took the decision to bar the erring banks based on field reports, which revealed that only eight banks out of 22 had sold forex to the SMEs segment since the inception of the new window.

    He said the CBN frowned at the action of banks that declined to sell foreign exchange to SMEs to enable them import eligible finished and semi-finished items despite the availability of forex from the CBN.

    Okorafor, said all banks that had refused to sell forex to the SMEs after accessing over 300 million dollars offered through the SMEs window since its creation last month will be sanctioned accordingly.

    He listed the banks not barred to include: Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank, Jaiz Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank and Zenith Bank.

    He warned that the CBN would not sit back and allow any form of instability in the interbank forex market through the actions of institutions or individuals.

    He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to play by the rules for the benefit of the entire country and its economy.

    Meanwhile, the CBN continued its massive intervention in the foreign exchange segment of the financial market by injecting 196.2 million dollars into the various segments of the Forex market on Tuesday.

    According to Okorafor, the apex Bank also offered 100 million to authorised dealers at Tuesday’s Forex wholesale auction.

    A breakdown of the other interventions indicate that the CBN made available 52 million dollars to the SME segment, while invisibles such as Personal and Basic Travel Allowance, medicals and tuition fees received 44.2 million dollars.

    The spokesman expressed confidence that the interventions would continue to guarantee stability in the market and ensure availability to individuals and business concerns.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that the CBN in April, opened a special foreign exchange window to cater to the SME sector.

    The Window would enable SMEs import eligible finished and semi-finished items not exceeding 20,000 dollars for an enterprise per quarter.

    This is part of the CBN strategy to improve the fare of everyday imported commodity in the market.

     

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Forex: CBN issues new form for SMEs to facilitate easy documentation

    In order further simplify accessibility to foreign exchange by the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a newly designed form to facilitate minimal documentation.


    Confirming this new development on Monday, the apex Bank spokesman, Mr Isaac Okorafor said the motive behind the new form is “to provide for the foreign exchange needs of SMEs, including those in retail business and to reduce the rigour of too much documentation.”


    According to him, the Bank has decided to ease the difficulty usually experienced by these category of businesses.

    Mr okorafor further explained that “henceforth, all SMEs seeking to obtain foreign exchange for eligible transactions shall now fill the newly designed form with basic documentation only for the importation of goods and services.”

    With this, the SMEs would be accommodated under the SME Foreign Exchange regime recently introduced by the apex Bank at the prevailing rate to import eligible visible and invisible items, he noted.

    This new measure will take immediate effect and importers in this category would no longer be required to fill Form M.

  • Forex: CBN opens special window for SMEs

    Forex: CBN opens special window for SMEs

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has opened a special Forex window for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enable SMEs import eligible finished and semi-finished items.

    The CBN spokesmsn, Isaac Okorafor, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said that the SMES would be permitted to import items not exceeding 20,000 dollars for an enterprise per quarter.

    He said that the Bank’s special intervention was necessitated by its findings that a large number of SMEs were being crowded out of the forex space by large firms.

    “The sum of 20,000 dollars per SME customer per quarter can be effected by telegraphic transfer subject to completion of Form ‘M’ supported with proforma Invoice and the importer’s Bank Verification Number (BVN).

    “All processing banks are to ensure that the importers submit relevant shipping documents not later than 60 days from the date of the transfer.

    “Information posted on the CBN website defines Small and Medium Scale Enterprises are enterprises that have asset base (excluding land) of between N5 million and N500 million and a labour force of between 11 and 300,” he said.

    Okorafor further disclosed that the Bank had begun the massive sale of foreign exchange in different sectors of the Forex market this week.

    He said that on Monday, the Bank intervened by offering 100 million dollars to authorised dealers at the forex auction in the interbank wholesale window.

    He said that 41 million dollars was also sold for BTA, PTA, medical and tuition fees.

    On the BDC segment, he said the Bank had sold 10,000 dollars each to BDCs to meet the needs of low-end users in the country.

    According to Okorafor, 99.544 million dollars was also picked up by dealers out of the 100 million offered by the Bank during the last wholesale auction on Friday.

    Meanwhile, operators in the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment have duly funded their accounts with the CBN in anticipation of picking up the dollar equivalent of 10,000 on Tuesday.

    Market analysts believe that the CBN may continue its special intervention in the market with the sale of more dollars to BDCs, thereby bringing down the price of Dollar.

     

     

    NAN