Adebayo Obajemu
As part of its measures to ease the excruciating burden of COVID-19 on small businesses, the federal government has finally released the guidelines for to accessing the N75 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Survival Fund and Support Initiatives, effective from September 21, 2020.
The scheme, is part of the N2.3 trillion stimulus package of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan includes the N60 billion MSMEs Survival Fund and the N15 billion Guaranteed Offtake Schemes.
This disclosure was contained in an official statement by the Federal Government through a series of tweet posts on its official Twitter handle.
The FG statemen read, “As the portal for the registration of prospective beneficiaries of Survival Fund opens, interested Nigerians in the Payroll Support Scheme are to note that the site will be open from 10 pm Monday, September 21, 2020.”
It goes further to explain that the registration for the payroll support will start with the educational institutions at 10 pm Monday, September 21, 2020, and immediately followed by businesses in the hospitality industry by 12am Friday, September 25, 2020.
According to the statement, the portal will be opening for other categories of small businesses from 12am, Monday, September 28, 2020.
Note that the scheduling of the registration for prospective beneficiaries is meant to ensure seamless process and to ensure it is hitch-free. The registration of every sector is to continue until Thursday, October 15, 2020.
To register for this initiative, the Federal Government has also provided a portal for entry. Potential beneficiaries are advised to log on to https://survivalfund.ng to complete their registration.
As part of the registration process, the beneficiaries are expected to provide personal registration details, activate their account, register their organization after they have successfully activated their account.
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Number, Bank Verification Number (BVN), SMEDAN Number, a Tax ID (optional) and the organization’s bank account details will be needed.
Completing the Payroll Support Registration, beneficiaries’ first name, last name, email, mobile number and Password will be required. Also, their Date of Birth, residential address and residential .
The MSMEs Survival Fund scheme is a conditional grant to support vulnerable micro and small enterprises in meeting their payroll obligations and safeguard jobs in the MSMEs sector. The scheme is expected to save at least 1.3 million jobs across the country and specifically impact on over 35,000 individuals per state.
The scheme will be implemented over an initial period of 3 months and is targeted at employees of MSMEs and self-employed individuals with 45% for female business participation and 5% for special needs participation
The Guaranteed Off Take Stimulus Scheme is expected to perfect and sustain the income of vulnerable micro and small enterprises from the economic disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic through the implementation of various initiatives aimed at boosting the production capacities of small businesses as well as the provision of grants.
